Please don't confuse sporks with woons, those wooden planks you get with ice cream and "malts" at the ballgame/fairs/etc. Woons are not sporks, and are in fact just a cheap ripoff of a spoon.
The spork is actually nothing more than a plastic decendant of the runcible spoon, the earliest mention of which I've found in Lewis Carrol's "The Walrus & the Carpenter."
the spork was invented not in the '60s, but in the 40's. when the us army occupied japan after the war, gen mcarthur (who wanted truman to enthrone him as emperor of japan) decreed that the use of chopsticks was uncivilized, and the conquered foe should use forks and spoons like the rest of the 'civilized' world. but fearing that the japs might rise up and retake their country with their forks, he and the us army invented the 'spork,' which was then introduced into the public schools. the army, which had taken over all government enterprises and the schools, enforced the use of the 'spork,' and made the use of chopsticks in the schools a punishable offense. this is a bit of spork history that's absolutely true, but not very funny.
It has been suggested that the disappearance of sporks at KFC and Taco Bell may have something to do with Pepsico's buyout of these companies. Any one with info on this please mail us.
(ObNotSporks: Sporks dissappeared about the same time that the Encherito went away at Taco Bell. The sporks were missed greatly...)
--HTML guy's note: The Sporks are, in fact, back at Taco Bell--
9. What is proper etiquette for sporkware?
In modern society, it is important to ensure that you do not offend
anyone with your spork. So please, only use sporks when the meal calls for
them. Serving sporks with no suitable alternative is not acceptable when
soups or sauces are a dominant portion of the meal in question.
As far as placesetting with your spork, simply substitute the dinner fork with the spork, leaving the knife and the salad fork present (eat lettuce with a spork? never!). You may wish to leave the spoon present in case their are "spork-ignorant" guests.
When using a spork to eat mashed potatoes out of a styrofoam container, it is common courtesy to leave a little "spork waste" at the bottom rather than scrape the styrofoam with the spork to get every last morsel. If you must have every little bit of potato, please use your finger.
The use of sporks for launcing peas, mashed potatoes, or other inedibles is acceptable, as long as you pay the management of the KFC for any damages caused. If at home, please ensure you clean up yourself.
10. What is the purpose/rules for the newsgroup a.p.u.s.s.s.?
Basically, our only rule is that all postings should have something
to do with sporks. It is our endeavor to further the use and understanding
of this, the most humble of eating utensil, the spork. All topics regarding
proper use, where to get them, other applications of sporks, etc. are welcome.
Please do not discuss any other utensil such as forks, knives, spatulas, etc.
Common abbreviations used on a.p.u.s.s.s:
"nsu's": Non-Spork Users -- that tasteless group of people that
cannot seem to handle sporks. These are the people who
perpetually ask for REAL forks at KFC. How dare they!