Evolution of Coasters

“Someone's left a glass on the coffee table. There's no coaster. It's a cold drink, it's a hot day. Little beads of condensation are inching their way closer and closer to the surface of the wood...”

- Chandler Bing (Friends)

There’s nothing more frustrating than that annoying guest who neglects to use a coaster and then leaves water rings on all your furniture. Sure they’ll dry up after a while, but wouldn’t it be simpler to use a coaster? Come to think of it, that’s probably why coasters were invented, right? By a frustrated host or hostess who was sick and tired of seeing little white rings on all his/her wooden furniture.

Well, if that’s how you think it happened, you would be wrong. Coasters were not invented to protect the furniture but rather to protect the drink!