Breakfast Lovers Want To Know What’s Up With Those Tiny Useless Maple Syrup Jar Handles

Some questions are just timeless. And, whether you want to know why daylight savings time is the way it is or how to do your taxes, TikTok seems to have the answers every time. Now, people are asking (and not for the first time) why maple syrup bottles have tiny handles that can't even be used when you pour out the syrup. And good old TikTok has the answer, as usual.

But first, it's important to establish just what we're talking about. Because of you run to your pantry and grab the inexpensive plastic squeeze bottle of syrup, that's now what people are referring to. Many have shared videos showing the glass bottles that look like mini jugs of syrup and tiny handles near the top of the bottles. And they all want to know the purpose of the handles in everyday use.

Once upon a time, syrup came in large jugs not unlike the kind you see in old cartoons with three x's written across them to signify some sort of malicious contents inside. Now, small jars or jugs of syrup have that same design. Well, without those hazardous x's, that is. And it turns out, maple syrup bottles have those handles because of the nostalgia factor and nothing more.

While that might be a little disappointing, it does make sense. The tiny handles can't be used to actually grip while you pour syrup. And no syrup actually goes through the tiny handle when you pour that maple goodness on your flapjacks. At this point, it's decorative and nothing more.

One user on TikTok explained as much in a video where he gave other examples of old things that have a certain retro appearance for nostalgia's sake. Like the wastebasket trash icon on some computers. Or the shutter sound that some phones make when they take photos. Cameras on phones don't have actual shutters, but the sound adds something a little extra to the experience. And apparently, that's what the maple syrup bottles handle is all about.

That doesn't mean that people haven't found outlandish and humorous ways to explain the handle, though. One TikTok user commented on the same video, "I thought it was a keychain attachment for Canadians."

Another user commented, clearly as a joke, "Same thing with honey. Back in the day people used to get their honey from giant bears."

The explanation for the maple syrup bottle handle makes sense when you consider what the larger jugs looked like way back when. But people are still trying to figure out a more logical reason and use for the tiny handles today. If you're one of those people, the good news is that you absolutely don't have to buy syrup in those tiny little jugs. So, you know, there's that.