The oldest habit -- Artifacts and texts -- Sucksacks and whiskers -- Poor goose! -- Out of the woods -- Made in Portugal -- Charles Forster in Pernambuco -- From pegs to riches -- A family affair -- Going where the wood is -- An article for the million -- Advise and dissent -- The nasty instrument -- The toothpick man -- Cords of paper birch -- Trade secrets and closed doors -- Other toothpicks -- New uses for old -- Maurice, Oscar, and the industry -- The tragic heiress -- Exeunt Oscar and Maurice -- Foreign affairs -- Old gold and good wood -- Boxed and unboxed -- Woodpeckers and other dispensers -- Talking round a toothpick -- The fatal martini -- Improving on perfection -- The butler did it.