205

Havell

’

s Improvement

On October 16, 1877, George Havell of Newark, New Jersey received United

States Patent Number 196,226 for his

―

Improvement in Corkscrews

‖

.

In his patent letter, Havell pointed out that corkscrews in this class are

―

usually

made of round wire, and shaped in such a manner that in drawing the cork the

fingers are crushed together, which, besides being unpleasant, reduces the power

of the hand.

‖

To address this problem, Havell wrote

―

I make the wire of the handle in oval

form with indentations in the under part of the top of the handle, so as to keep

the fingers separate when drawing the cork.

‖

In fact, in production, the corkscrew was made with a variety of handle shapes

with many having just a straight opening with none of the

―

indentations.

‖

When marked, the corkscrews are marked on the outside of the handle with

―

Pat. Oct. 16 77

‖

.