64
Bouchonete with advertising
for Charles Gruber.
The Corkex is very similar to the René Besançon patent. It was originally manufactured
by Ammer AG in Rümlang. The Corkex was first distributed in the United States by
Irvinware, Long Island City, New York. Boxes from Irwinware can be found with a 1969
copyright date.
In the 1980s, the Franmara
Company in California was a
Corkex distributor. In the
late 1980s, owner Frank
Chiorazzi was notified by
Ammer that they were
discontinuing production.
Frank commented, "We had
completely new tooling made
in Taiwan. So the production
is now Franmara's. We use to
use the original Swiss box design but now we have changed to our own design."
One important thing we learn from the copy on the Corkex packaging is this important
tip: "Should the cork appear dry or porous, moisten it by tilting the bottle."
