h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The History of the Spork
It would appear that the spork has a very long, and interesting history. The spork is actually nothing more than a plastic descendant of the Runcible spoon, the earliest mention found in Lewis Carrol's "The Walrus & the Carpenter."
And, then there’s this little tidbit of info: 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 President 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.


Yet a spork is so much more than just an eating utensil.
A spork is a perfect metaphor for human existence. It tries to function as both spoon and fork, and because of this dual nature, it sometimes fails at both. You cannot have soup with a spork, it is far too shallow; you cannot eat meat with a spork, the prongs are too small. However, there are sporks out there that have been created to do both of the latter, they are much more refined than the normal spork.