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Author's Notes

In this book I have reviewed many cork ejector patents plus a number of related

patents. This total pales in comparison to the huge number of worldwide corkscrew

patents issued, but these products occupy a much shorter time period. And that time

period appears to have had its share of interruptions which may have been, for the most

part, caused by an overly sensitive populace that took bad press reports far too

seriously.

Five of the patents were issued in the first half of the twentieth century. All of these

patents concerned the use of air to eject the cork. I have found no evidence that the

inventions were manufactured. One could certainly present a case for all of the

patentees earning the title "Father of the Air Cork Ejector" but none come closer than

Pius Hasler whose 1918 Swiss invention bears the closest likeness to the many

inventions of the 1960s.

It is interesting to note that most of the air patents are from the period 1962-1968.

With the exception of one invention in 1977 that was not produced, there were no

further air patents issued until 1982. There was little activity in the 1980s and 1990s and

little survival in the marketplace for the new inventions. Two interesting novelties were

the two battery operated models patented by Ravreby and Makino. The old 1960s

standbys seemed to have withstood the tests of time and the fickle market: Corkex,

Corky, and some former Emide air ejectors currently produced in Germany by GSD.

No one could replace the basic pumping operation found in these products. The

Corkette survived until 2002.

New York restaurateur Denis Farandatos is certainly the thumbs up candidate for

"Father of the Gas Cork Ejector." His 1950 invention was the first to inject gas into the

bottle to eject the cork. It took a number of years to reach the market but once it did,