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In C. Rosenberry's U. S. Patent No. 58,889 of October 16, 1866 he writes

―

The object of

this invention is to produce a device by means of which corks could be extracted from

bottles and other vessels conveniently, even if those vessels contain some liquid.

‖

Rosenberry of Chicago twists four wires together forming a claw on the end of each. By

passing the wires through a sliding ring, the claw can be closed to enter the bottle and

opened to grip the cork.

One week after Rosenberry's patent, J. T. Ashley of Brooklyn, New York, was granted

U. S. Patent No. 58,969 for a remarkably similar device working in the same manner as

Rosenberry's but having a wooden

―

T

‖

handle.

Seth Clapp came up with a little bit more

complicated device in his

―

Improved

Cork-Pull

‖

U. S. Patent No. 78,485 of

January 21, 1868. He points out that he

has combined

―

with a number of

grappling-prongs a central spear, said

spear serving to pierce the cork and to

draw it up between the prongs

‖

. He

likens the possibilities of the point to an

arrow-head or eel-spear. Once the lucky

fisherman impales the top of the cork

with the spear, it can be drawn up

between the prongs and then extracted.

Avid corkscrew collectors may recognize

the name Seth Clapp as the inventor of