148
Instructions and Cautions
As we have seen in the discussions of the products and inventions, there are frequent
allusions to breakage of bottles and needles endangering the user.
Most of the instruction sheets that come with the cork ejectors are fairly
straightforward on points of usage. Most give the customary warnings about not using
the ejector on "bubbly" and spirits nor on non-standard or damaged bottles. And some
offer the suggestion of wrapping the bottle in a towel or napkin to protect the user in
case of breakage.
When one considers that many cork ejectors would be purchased, taken home, and
used without reading instructions (who does that on Christmas morning?), the risks of
self-inflicted harm through misuse increase. Also, the box with instructions is likely to go
in the trash after the first use. The ejector then simply waits in a drawer for the next
haphazard opening of a bottle. Some of the ejectors have a warning or precaution
printed on an attached label but there is little room on the ejectors for giving complete
instructions. The best the manufacturers could hope for is a user who follows
instructions and remembers them with each bottle opened.
In a somewhat humorous instruction sheet, Haverhill's offers:
