200
Valezina
On February 22, 1944, John Henry Miller of Baltimore, Maryland, was granted
United States Patent 2,342,156 for his
“
Stopper Extractor
”
. Miller first patented
the corkscrew in England (1943 /Number 570,680) and later Canada (1944 /
Number 421,337).
The double action corkscrew was produced in
Brighton, England by John Bagwell-Purefoy in a factory
in Little Preston Street. The corkscrew was named after
his daughter Valezina who said,
“
He called me after the
silver washed fritilitey butterfly female version
Valezina. At that time there was only one other person
of that name,
the lepidopterist Frederick William Frohawk‟s daughter, whom he
asked if he could call me after. Since then my niece has the name and possibly
now a few other people as well.
”
The Valezina was produced in blue, red, silver, and gold finishes.
