Saturday, April 28, 2012

Hat Making Material...!

As is the case with much of what we use almost daily, this stuff has an interesting history.

I'll be the first to admit I knew very little about tin foil, so this was very informative for me. I just love this kind of info 'cause it makes me feel so much smarter! Not that I really am, but I just feel that way!

Aluminum-Foil

First of all, almost no one uses real tin foil these days. The stuff we all call “tin foil” is actually aluminium foil. Originally foil was made of tin but it gave (not surprisingly) a tin flavor to whatever it touched. It was heavier than modern aluminium foil, which has its benefits but not enough to keep it going strong in our kitchens. Aluminium foil began to surpass tin foil after World War II but it had been available since 1910 when it was first produced by “Dr. Lauber, Neher & Cie.” a Swiss company using the force of a waterfall to drive the foil making machinery. Its first use in the US was as a wrapper on Life Savers candy in 1913.

Interesting Fact: Tin foil was used to fill cavities in teeth before the 20th century. If you have fillings today and have ever chewed a piece of aluminium foil, this fact should make you squirm!


All this fun filled information came from the folks over at Listverse!

I hope you all have a fun filled day! If nothing else, make up some new tin foil hats! Not sure the aluminium foil version will work right!

Coffee in the kitchen this morning. It's trying to rain again today!

7 comments:

George said...

It's fascinating....those old fashioned ways. People back then were pretty oblivious to any scientific evidence of the real dangers, etc. Maybe that was better than how it is now....we all get so worried about everything we eat and breathe. Ignorance is bliss.

Anonymous said...

Aluminum foil is pretty dad blasted expensive, when I see it a big big roll on sale I scoop it up and it is always the thick kind..Use it all summer long to bbq everything..no mess no clean up just roll it up, keep it in a bag in the freezer to keep ants out of the garbage can and voila good to go in the garbage when garbage day comes..Happy Spingtime to you, enjoy your blog cause you always post something very interesting and you do have a great sense of humor about you!

Ben in Texas said...

DANG!! Just reading that brought back memories of biting down on a piece of foil with a filling. !!!!

BBC said...

Don't recall ever calling it tin foil.

Sixbears said...

Dang! We are supposed to use real tin foil for our hats. Aluminum just increases the signal.

But seriously. Amazing stuff we take for granted.

Phyllis (N/W Jersey) said...

I remember as a kid having to peel away any foil wrapped candy - one itsy-bitsy piece on a filling and WOW you sure did know it!
Coffee in the kitchen is fine. It's cold here. I'll bring that quick mix you told us about the other day. Of course, I add honey!

Dizzy-Dick said...

I have handled stainless steel foil and you got to be real careful, it could make a nasty cut. I would think that aluminum foil would be a lot more toxic than actual tin foil.