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And who are these guys A & R Thwaites?

They

‘

re a couple of guys from Dublin,

Ireland. Augustine Thwaites was an

apothecary in Dublin. Records indicate that

he was dealing in natural mineral waters as

early as 1769. Augustine and his son,

Richard, were among the earliest

commercial manufacturers of artificial

mineral waters. They developed some new

processes but I could not find anything

supporting the

―

Inventors of Soda Water

‖

claim on the knife.

The Thwaites did have a patent. They

purchased it from William Hamilton.

Hamilton was issued a couple of patents

(1909 and 1914) which discuss methods of

filling preparing soda water and filling egg shaped bottles.

So it would seem that the Thwaites took some liberties with their advertising

knife. Given their early involvement with Soda water production and sales, the

Thwaites

‘

name was probably well known in some circles. But it not likely that

they could legitimately claim the title

―

Inventors of Soda Water.

‖