It\u2019s old. Very, very old.<\/p>\n
I assumed that glitter was invented a while within the Victorian era, in all probability for the only purpose of gaudying-up sentimental greeting cards. However glitter is far older than I ever guessed.<\/p>\n
Some time round 40,000 B.C., historical humans began dusting sparkly crushed minerals over their cave paintings. As early because the sixth century A.D., Mayans were adding glitter made of mica to their temple partitions, in response to National Geographic. And in 2010, the BBC reported that reflective materials was discovered combined in with what’s believed to be the residue of 50,000-year-old Neanderthal cosmetics.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not made of metal.<\/p>\n
Aluminum, possibly tin: That\u2019s what I believed glitter was made of. Nope. Modern glitter was invented in 1934 in New Jersey, of all places, when American machinist Henry Ruschmann figured out a technique to grind plastic into glitter. Eventually the raw material advanced into polyester film layered with coloring and reflective material “fed through a rotary knife reducing system \u2026 sort of a mixture of a paper shredder and a wood chipper,” in line with glitter manufacturer Joe Coburn. Earlier than that, glitter was made of glass. Not something you\u2019d want to eat.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s everywhere.<\/p>\n
Tons of glitter are produced yearly (actually, tons). There are 20,000 types of glitter available from pioneer glitter-makers Meadowbrook Innovations alone, ranging from the run-of-the-mill craft glitter you remember from kindergarten to “particular effects” glitter for industrial applications. It can be as fine as mud or as chunky as confetti. As glitter manufacturer Coburn remarked on Reddit in 2014, an order of “2 tons a month is a very small dimension<\/p>\n
You’ll be able to see a glitter-making machine in motion here \u2014 it\u2019s disturbingly environment friendly at reducing thin sheets of polyester film into gleaming little grains. Glitter isn\u2019t biodegradable and most people don\u2019t recycle it. So it\u2019s not going anywhere.<\/p>\n
You possibly can eat it.<\/p>\n
Hold on! You’ll be able to\u2019t eat just any glitter. It must be edible glitter, a hip new condiment that gained fame on Instagram in 2017. Since the first twinkling photographs showed up, it\u2019s made an look on everything from donuts to bagels to pizza.<\/p>\n
Within the interest of significant academic analysis, I imagine it\u2019s essential that I examine and consume edible glitter. What is it made of? When was it invented? Most essential of all, what would occur if somebody baked it into a cake and ate it?<\/p>\n