Marvin Stone

Who was Marvin Stone?

Marvin Chester Stone is best known as the inventor of the modern drinking straw. He was born in Portage County, Ohio in 1842. His father, Chester Stone, was a well-known inventor of many machines, including the cheese press and washing machines. Marvin C. Stone inherited his father's inventive genius, and made many useful articles in his boyhood. He was a graduate of Oberlin College, but his course was interrupted by the Civil War, in which he took part with credit and won promotion.

After college he began a theological course, but abandoned it to go to Washington where he was employed as a newspaper correspondent for several years. Later in his life, he invented a machine for making paper cigarette holders and made a contract with the Duke Company. After that he started a factory in Ninth Street, Washington. Next he invented a machine to wind paper straws, which were popularly used for drinking cold beverages.

Prior to this, people used natural rye grass straws, which were undesirable because they imparted a grassy flavor in beverages. In response to this, Marvin C.