230
Mr. Bernardin also claimed to be the inventor of the beer crown. When his
factory superintendent disappeared for a month and turned up in Baltimore,
Maryland, he had been hired by five men who, I am told, were the founders of
Crown Cork and Seal Company. Patent applications were filed by both
companies and a law suit resulted. Bernardin won the first appeal, which was
reversed back and forth through several courts. The superintendent apparently
claimed to have been instrumental in the development, which was the basis of
the law suits.
”
In an undated booklet,
Background to the Crown
, Cecil J. Parker, Chief Chemist at
the Southall Research Laboratories of Crown Cork Company, Limited, London,
writes:
“
William Painter, of English descent lived at Baltimore in Maryland. By trade he
was a Mechanical Engineer and by nature a genius in things mechanical...We
cannot know for certain how he became interested in the bottle closure problem,
but as so many others were at that time, it is more than likely that his position in
the engineering shop brought him into contact with an inventor who was having
working models made of some form of stopper.
”
Was that
“
inventor
”
from Bernardin
‟
s factory?
Parker continues:
“
In the summer of 1891, William Painter took a holiday and while staying at a
seaside resort on Rhode Island he drew up the design for an
„
over the top
‟
sealing cap, which was destined to revolutionize the bottling industry. In other
words the
„
Crown
‟
was born.
”
________________________
Did the crown cap ideas originate in Evansville, Indiana? Did someone from
Bernardin
‟
s factory find Painter in Maryland and present him with Bernardin
‟
s
working models? It is apparent that both firms were manufacturing bottle
closures during the time they came up with
“
bottle openers.
”
Was it coincidence
that they both filed their applications around the same time?
And most importantly, given the fact that Bernardin filed for his bottle opener
patent first, is he not truly the inventor of the
“
Crown Cap Lifter
”
?
You be the judge.