Eating forks were thought comically dainty and unmanly-and dangerous, too, come to that. Since they had only two sharp tines, the scope for spearing one's lip or tongue was great, particularly if one's aim was impaired by wine and jollity. Manufacturers experimented with additional numbers of tines-sometimes as many as six-before settling, late in the nineteenth century, on four as the number that people seemed to be most comfortable with. Why four should induce the optimum sense of security isn't easy to say, but it does seem to be a fundamental fact of flatware psychology.
The perception of eating forks has shifted over time, with early designs considered excessively delicate and inappropriate for men. With only two sharp tines, these forks posed a risk of injury, especially when one's coordination was compromised by alcohol. This led to many manufacturers experimenting with designs that featured additional tines, some having up to six. Ultimately, they found that a four-tine fork became the standard, reflecting a collective preference for...
