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Hotel Operator

’

s Delight 2

In 1925 Thomas Hamilton of Boston, Massachusetts was granted a United States

Patent for a wall-mounted bottle opener entitled

―

Bottle-cap puller.

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In 1929

Newport News resident Raymond Brown added a corkscrew to the Hamilton

design under United States Patent Number 1,702,149

Brown came up with another corkscrew and cap puller wall-mount design in

1931 but he returned to further develop the first design. Brown

‘

s 1929 patent

included a corkscrew hinged near the middle of the opener and folding down

when in use. His next patent (Number 1,996,696) issued April 2, 1935 finds the

corkscrew hinged at the top and fitting in a slot above the cap lifter. Brown said

―

the cork remover is held by gravity always in the inoperative position, and out

of the way of the crown cap remover.

‖

Brown wrote

―

The invention is designed for use in hotels and similar places to

avoid the constant marring of furniture by the attempts of guests to remove

corks and caps from bottles by applying them to the edge of furniture, radiators,

etc.

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