The town of Strong, Maine, has quite the nickname—Toothpick Capital of the World—bestowed upon them decades ago. Charles Forster, an entrepreneur from Boston, took a trip to Brazil in the mid-19th century when he was first introduced to the concept of a toothpick. Toothpicks had been around for centuries, with the first systemized manufacturing of them taking place in Portugal, but toothpicks made of orangewood soon made their way to Brazil, a colony of Portugal at the time. Forster saw an opportunity. He wanted to create a wooden toothpick that would be accessible to both the rich and the poor.
Forster used shoe pegging equipment as a means of testing out various woods for his project. Along with a shoe pegging mechanic, he finally settled on white birch, as it was both pliable and had a subtle sweet smell and taste. Forster chose Strong, Maine, as his base of operation due to the abundance of trees in the area. The patent for the toothpick was filed in 1885, and the first toothpick mill in the town was opened in 1887. One of Forster’s most-used methods to spread word about his toothpicks? He would pay people to request toothpicks in stores and at restaurants. After complaining that the business did not have these exciting new products, Forster would soon visit the location and sell them toothpicks. They became a sign of status, with all of the wealthy men and women chewing on toothpicks at places like restaurants and hotels.
Once business started booming, and Forster was producing over 500 million toothpicks each year, competitors began to emerge throughout the state. Still, Forster’s company saw no shortage of success. In the years following World War II, over 75 billion toothpicks were being produced in Strong, Maine, a town with 1,000 residents at the time, each year. Even the firetrucks in the town were painted with the words “Toothpick Capital of the World” on the side. Nearly 120 years after opening, Forster’s toothpick mill closed in 2003, the last in the state to close. Today, no toothpicks are made in Strong, Maine, with the production having moved to other locations all over the world.