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On November 16, 1961 George Federighi, San Francisco, California, applied for a patent

for his "Pressurized Device for Uncorking Bottles." His invention started "Cork Pops"

which has survived in the marketplace for forty years. He designed an extremely simple

"tubular holder for slidably receiving a container which encloses a non-toxic gas." By

pushing the container down, the top of the needle opens the valve, and the gas is

injected below the cork. Two possible gases he suggested were "Genetron" by Allied

Chemical and "Freon" by du Pont. His first cork ejector patent was issued April 16,

1963 (No. 3,085,454). The Cork Pops were manufactured by Stero Chemical

Manufacturing at 70 13th Street, San Francisco and distributed by Berkshire Sales of San

Francisco, California, and Yonkers, New York.