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The Copex Corkscrew

Jacques Oscar and Rosemary Copel c.1960

Swiss born Jacques Oscar Copel was working with the Maison Albert

Bichot wine firm in Beaune, France in the 1930s. One of their customers was D.

Recher & Co. of Chicago, Illinois. Jacques and his French born wife Rosemary

left France with their children Rosemary (nicknamed Chou Chou), Roger, and

Willy on November 28, 1939 just before the outbreak of World War II. Jacques

and Rosemary had become American citizens in the 1920s and they now settled

in Algonquin, Illinois.

Copel established a wine business and he purchased corkscrews from French

manufacturers via D. Recher & Co.

Copel wanted a name for his corkscrews which would be easily remembered so

he combined the family name with the name of a well known feminine napkin

(Kotex which was introduced in 1920 by Kimberly Clark Company) and came up

with Copex.