89

England

The single most important invention in the

gas cork ejector field was that of a Greek

restaurateur in New York City. Although this

patent was applied for and granted in the

United States, it is most appropriately

included in this, the English section. The

patent detailed further below was not

produced in the United States; rather it was

licensed to the British Oxygen Company in

London.

Denis Farandatos was 51 years old when he

came up with his "Cork Extractor with Gas

Pressure Generating Means." He was

operating the New Way Bar & Grill at 750

Lexington Street just around the corner from

his apartment on 60th Street. The New Way

was the birthplace of gas cork ejectors!

Farandatos submitted his application on December 21, 1950 and it wasn't until a little

over five years later that U. S. Patent No. 2,729,124 was granted. Farandatos colorful

background details are presented in the introduction to this book. After discussing the

horrors of using conventional corkscrews, he continues with the reason for his

invention: "…t

o provide a cork extractor that removes a cork in a substantially whole

condition…to relieve the server of the usual struggle with refractory corks, which

sometimes results in depositing splashes of bottle contents in the most unexpected

places."

Farandatos patent drawings showed a T-handle with a worm that would be screwed

into the cork. After that, the normal method of extracting changed. Instead of pulling or

using mechanical leverage, Farandatos' worm was hollow so that gas could be injected

into the bottle forcing the cork out. This would be accomplished by using a hand pump

or a pressure cylinder. The drawings also show a needle but he states that a corkscrew

"is to a considerable extent preferred." Of needles he says "…hypodermic type can be

used and are advantageous because they do not materially increase the pressure of the

cork on the bottle neck. The ordinary corkscrew materially increases that pressure,

which is already considerable."