241

Yankee Ingenuity

In Chicago, Illinois, Raymond Gilchrist invented a new wall

mounted

“

cork-extractor

”

and on June 15, 1907, he received

U. S. Patent Number 857,992. He waited almost six years

from the application date for the patent. Gilchrist described

the simple operation:

Hold the bottle in position. Raise the handle and the

screw enters the cork. Lower the handle, the tightest

cork comes out, clean and whole, leaving no broken

bits in the bottle, and is automatically discharged

from the machine.

The corkscrew was being produced by The Gilchrist Co. of

Newark, New Jersey and marketed as the Yankee No. 1. It

could be purchased with nickel plating for $1.25 or with

silver plating for $3.50.

An advertisement headlined

“

A

household necessity

”

tells the consumer:

“

Should be in every home. Don

‟

t let any

woman struggle with a corkscrew to open

tightly corked catsup, olive, pickle,

medicine on any other bottle. The Yankee

is screwed against any upright surface:

Icebox, Sideboard, Door Frame or Wall.

It

‟

s always there. No hunting for a

corkscrew, always ready to draw the

tightest cork from any bottle.

The Yankee No. 1 is also available with

advertising cast into the handle.

”

Two advertising examples noted are

Ballantine Brewery in Newark and the

Park Brew Company in Rhode Island.