We'd get out, take pictures by it." The Twine Ball was made by one man, Francis A. Johnson. He started his circular collection of string in 1950. So what makes people crazy for this ball of string?

Dear Dr. John, My cat loves to play with string, all kinds of string! She has been that way since she was a kitten and now she’s 3 years old. My vet told me that playing with and swallowing ...

A label on the ball, from the 1970s, claims that the string was saved from bundles of 19,794,950 napkins over the course of nearly 50 years and that, if unraveled, it would stretch for 337-1/2 miles.

One way to remember the string in your dishes is to make further use of it. Keep it wound around a roast or roulade while you slice it -- this helps keep any stuffing or barding intact and also ...

String is great not just for practicing knots (see the chapter headings of Annie Proulx’s ‘Shipping News’) and cat’s cradle, but for trussing chickens and tying up bouquet garnis and sachets.