Wine corkscrews are great gift ideas for people who love wine. The search for the best wine bottle corkscrews takes us to the history of cork removers. Cork removers, originally called corkscrews, were invented as an easy way of removing the cork from a bottle.
Wine bottles weren't the first bottles to be corked. Many things were often stored in corked containers, such as beer, medicine, cosmetics and food. Many of these corked items required small corkscrews. The very early cork removers or corkscrews were manufactured by the gunsmiths of the day and, records have shown, also crafted by the Worshipful Company of Loriners, one of the livery companies of the City of London. The Loriners were not gunsmiths, but originally a trade association for makers of metal parts for spurs, harnesses, bridles, and other horse apparel. The first corkscrews were made from a tool called the bulletscrew or gun worm, a tool with a single or double spiral end fitting used to clean musket barrels or to extract an unspent charge from the barrel.
Horse Wine Charms
Early in the 17th century, corkscrews for removing corks were made by blacksmiths, and using a cork to stopper a bottle was well established. The heyday of corkscrews coincided with the middle of the 19th century, the great period of British manufacturing and invention. The earliest patent for the wine bottle cork remover or corkscrew was granted in 1795 in England to Reverend Samuel Henshall. He attached a metal button between the shank and the worm, the worm penetrated the cork, the button would contact the top, and by turning the handle, the grip between the cork and the bottle neck would be broken.
The English were the first to seal wine bottles with a cork, thus necessitating the creation of the wine bottle corkscrew. Looking to create an improved wine bottle corkscrew, the German Carl Wienke invented a single lever waiter's type of wine corkscrew called the "Butler's Friend". Wienke was granted a German patent on May 26, 1882, a British patent on April 20, 1883, and a French patent on May 7, 1883. The corkscrew was called the "Waiter's Friend" or "Butler's Friend" because it could easily remove and easily replace a wine bottle cork. Wienke's corkscrew design is still used today. This is the best wine bottle cork removing corkscrew of choice for the waiter. Slim and comfortable to use with practice, once mastered, it's fast, efficient and comfortable to carry in your pocket. The worm (screw) and the small knife are tucked safely away. The servers can put it into their pocket or apron without fear of getting poked.
Always endeavoring to produce the best wine bottle corkscrew gave way to another common corkscrew design, the double winged lever, and it is credited to H.S. Heeley. Heeley wanted to improve upon the best wine bottle cork remover corkscrew of the day and was granted a British patent on April 23, 1888. Heeley's design was called the "A1 Heeley Double Lever", using pivoting links to gain an improved mechanical advantage to pull the cork.
Not to be outdone in the best wine bottle cork remover corkscrew creation, the "Walker Bell wine bottle corkscrew" was patented in 1893 by American designer Edwin Walker, a self-pulling cork remover corkscrew that incorporated a bell shape, and was often used for promotional messages. The bell shape rested on the bottle top. As the cork remover corkscrew was turned the cork was pulled inside the bell. Walker's first bells were manufactured by E.S.M. Company in Erie, Pennsylvania in the early 1890's. Walker also patented a method for making wine bottle cork remover corkscrews in 1912.
Dominick Rosati developed the first double winged lever patented in North America and was granted a U.S. patent on April 1, 1930 and a Canadian patent on November 25, 1930.
There are so many types of wine bottle corkscrews with interesting mechanisms, all based on the original conceptions, that one could develop a desire for an interesting collection of past and present wine bottle corkscrews.