213
What Cheer
On January 15, 1935 Henry G.
Thompson of Cleveland, Ohio, was
issued United States Patent Number
1,988,057 for his wall mounted
corkscrew. Thompson stated his goal
was to produce a corkscrew that could
be
“
manufactured so cheaply that it can
be retailed profitably at a very low
price.
”
I can just imagine Henry
dreaming of finding his corkscrew
mounted on the wall of every room in
every hotel in the country.
Henry complained that pocket and portable corkscrews
“
have well recognized
disadvantages, among which may be mentioned that they are easily misplaced
[don
‟
t we all do that?] ... and their use is sometimes difficult and sometimes
breaks up the cork, resulting in chips passing into the contents of the bottle,
while at other times the cork is extracted so vigorously as to spill the contents
[especially after several bottles have been consumed!]
”
Henry had originally been granted U. S. Patent No. 1,930,492 in October 1933 for
this wall mounted corkscrew with the title
“
Combination bottle opener, jar top
remover, and cork screw.
”
The 1935 patent made additional claims to help
solidify his patent. In the first patent application he presents this scenario:
“
In the past, when it became necessary to open a bottle and no bottle opener was
found nearby, the cap of the bottle was placed against the nearest piece of
furniture, window sill or any projection, and pounded, resulting in a marking of
the furniture and in some instances, when the neck of the bottle broke, the
ruining of rugs, curtains, etc.
”
[Henry must have had some wild hotel room
parties].
He continues:
“
This was especially true in hotels, where, if a bottle opener was placed by the
management in each room, it soon became lost or found its way into a guest
‟
s
pocket. There have been bottle openers which could be secured in place, but
these have been a costly construction, which prohibited their use in every room
of a hotel.
”
[Make them cheap, screw them to the wall and nobody will want
them!].
