[capt. norm]

"IIRC, in the “old days”, we had paper straws. ??"

Back in the 40's and 50's the straws at the one and only drugstore in Laurens, Iowa were all paper and wound into a tube shape. We used to unravel them into long streamers to hang on our bicycles.
They came enclosed in a paper cover that you could blow thru it and shoot the cover across the room.

Great place where you could order a cherry coke and watch them prepare it.

Somehow the flavor has degraded since that era and it doesn't seem to be coming back.
My favorite new entry is those cans of "Lime-A-Ritas" (for those of us who don't get out much at age 75+). Although it was never mentioned...the straws were biodegradable.

[NEMDF]

Great picture. Yes, the paper straws would be biodegradable, but probably unpopular, since trees must die for their production. Laurens, IA - not too far from here (Omaha).

[bgill]

The flavor isn’t the same because back then the soda jerks added more syrup to the carbonated water. Heck, even the bottled drinks had more syrup back then. Today, the soft drink companies think they can save money by barely adding any flavoring.

We used to claim sore throats so our parents would buy us the syrup. Yum.