That Tiny White Table On Your Pizza Is Not A Show Piece; It Serves A Real Purpose

The first time we ordered a pizza was somewhere in the early 2000s, post which my brother and I got obsessed. No, seriously, we had a problem. Post-school, we would pool in all our savings and place an order from our landline phone. The only problem was that we had to finish it off before our parents came back from their offices, leaving absolutely no trace of our secret binge. We chomped on our pizza at a supersonic speed, something we are infamous for till today. The real problem arose when we had to dispose off the giant cardboard boxes. We would break it down in halves and then break them down further until they were small enough to be pushed in the deep end of our trash. Such smooth criminals, right?

 Never in my wildest imagination, I thought we would get caught; more surprising was the way we got caught. I had a habit of collecting the tiny stool-like thing that would come with the pizzas. Perched right in the centre of the pizza, these would be the size of my finger and resemble a mini table, with three legs. Anyhow, soon, my mother found a way to my ‘collectibles’. It was not the smartest thing to hide them in the drawer of my study table; even sillier was the idea of collecting it in the first place, I guess.

Upon growing up, I understood that those ‘tiny tables’ had a real purpose inside that box. They are called Pizza savers, by the way. A pizza saver, also referred to as the pizza table, pizza stool, package saver and pizza chair, is primarily used to prevent the top of the food container or box from touching the food inside. Another reason is to save the pizza in place whilst carrying out the delivery. Since the pizza is cut into several pieces, it can get scattered in the box. To keep it together, these pizza savers are essential.

With three legs or four, these pizza savers are placed in the centre of the pizza right before the box lid is closed for delivery. 

So, who came up with the genius idea? Claudio Daniel Troglia of Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1974, was issued a patent for a three-legged, mini plastic stool to place in the middle of his pizza to keep the top side of the box from collapsing in the middle. He chose to call it ‘SEPI’ or Separador de Pizza, which translates to “pizza separator” in English. His patent, however, was not renewed. Finally, in 1985, Carmela Vitale of Dix Hills, New York, requested a patent of a similar device, it was approved. She called it the ‘package saver’; with time, the term ‘pizza saver’ became more commonly associated with the product.  

What To Do With The Plastic Pizza Saver?  

It is made of plastic; perhaps that is one of the reasons why many pizza giants who have pledged to save the environment are doing away with the pizza savers. Also, these pizza savers cannot be reused, and they need to be discarded after one use unless the patrons decide to use them for other purposes, such as a table for your dolls’ tea party etc. You can also turn it upside down and use it as an egg holder or a DIY decorative piece.