Sometimes, you really can find stuff that you never expect to find, stuff that you never even thought would exist.
I picked this up from a local jewelry dealer while browsing my local flea-market. It’s not much, and nor did it cost that much, either. I mean, it’s only two-and-a-half inches long, after all, and not even high-grade gold…but it is gold!
Yep. The mark on the shaft is there for all the world to see: “9ct”, for 9ct gold…or 37.5% purity.
With its loopy handle, twisted shaft, and spearpoint tip, you’d probably never mistake something like this, or of this size, to be anything else. I’d never really thought about buying, owning, and having added to my collection – a solid gold toothpick – but now that I’d seen one – why not? I mean, how many people even know these things exist, or indeed, what they are?
A History of Gold Toothpicks
It may surprise you, but gold toothpicks aren’t nearly as uncommon as you might think.
Back in the 1700s and 1800s, they used to be quite common – and were one of several types of luxury accessories or pieces of jewelry that were carried around, by both men, and women.
Most gold toothpicks were of the retractable type – similar to a sliding, retractable pencil. The shaft of the toothpick was affixed to the inside of a gold (or silver, if you couldn’t afford gold) cylindrical sleeve. When not in use, the toothpick was retracted, and hung on a gold chain or necklace. When it was required, the toothpick was slid out of its sleeve, exposing the shaft and the familiar spear-point tip. Once used, the toothpick was wiped down, and slid back inside its sleeve for safekeeping.
Of course, open models, without a sliding metal sleeve, also existed – that’s what I have!
Toothpicks like this in gold and silver were very common in the 1700s and 1800s, and even into the early 1900s. In an age when dental hygiene was not what it perhaps could be…(eurgh!)…using a toothpick to scrape the gunk and stuck food off of your teeth was one way to at least try and keep them clean. That, and it avoided the awkward situation of talking to someone when you’ve got a chunk of something jammed between two teeth…which is uncomfortable at the best of times, let alone unsightly.
Carrying Your Toothpick
Such toothpicks became so common that there was actually a surprisingly good trade being done not only in toothpicks, but also in toothpick cases! Numerous Victorian and Georgian-era examples exist made of everything from solid gold to ivory, bone, tortoiseshell and sterling silver. Some of these boxes, which are typically long, flat and rectangular, even came with built-in mirrors underneath the lid (like a lipstick case!) so that the owner could hold it up to their mouth and uh…ahem…make sure that they were hitting all the right spots.
Victorian-era concerns over dental hygiene meant that it was common for people to carry toothpicks around with them when they went out for a meal. The sooner you could deal with that chunk of toast stuck in your teeth, or that sliver of roast pork, the more easily you could clean your teeth properly, later…that, and it’s not very nice to spend an evening out while also wearing the remnants of dinner on your teeth – if people want to know what you ate, they should ask you, not look at you.
To carry one’s toothpick, it was either suspended on a gold or silver chain in a manner similar to a pendant necklace, or else was stored in one of those aforementioned toothpick cases. If the former (which was common for women) then it would be hung around the neck as a piece of jewelry. If the latter, then either stored in one’s handbag, or kept in one’s suit-jacket pocket until required.
The Death of the Metal Toothpick
Do gold and silver toothpicks still exist today? Absolutely! You can buy them on eBay right now. Granted, the silver versions are more common, but gold ones do still exist, even if they’re usually much, much more expensive. Gold examples are typically made of either 9 or 14kt gold, and silver ones are sterling silver.
That said, they’re not as common as they used to be. Nowadays, it’s much more common to carry around a plastic, or even a cheap, throwaway wooden toothpick, sharpened to a point. However, with fears over cross-contamination and germ-spreading, especially in the wake of the petering-out COVID-19 Pandemic, the use of individually-carried toothpicks might see a resurgence now, since the idea of digging into a communal container which everybody else has touched, to select something which you’re then going to put into your mouth…doesn’t sound particularly hygienic.
Buying a Gold or Silver Toothpick
“Y’know what? Buying and owning my own precious-metal toothpick, instead of using disposables, and contributing to waste, landfill, and cross-contamination – sounds like a good idea!…where can I get one?”
Well – there’s always the antique variants – they’re often found on eBay or other online selling-sites, or in antiques shops, but you can also buy the modern ones. Retractable silver and gold toothpicks still exist, and there are companies which still make them. From what I’ve seen, these are mostly produced in China or other Asian countries, where heavy toothpick use is still common. Of course, a silver toothpick will be much easier to find than a gold one, and will also cost significantly less – although – given how small they are – even a gold one doesn’t cost that much – which is how I was able to buy mine.
As for my own – I don’t know that much about it, except that it was likely manufactured in the UK, and in the early 1900s. There’s only one other mark on it apart from the “9ct”, and that appears to be a maker’s mark – which sadly, I haven’t been able to trace.
Regardless – this has got to be one of the most interesting (and the smallest!) antiques I’ve ever added to my collection!