9

William Williamson of Newark, New Jersey did not file for his Mini Bottle Corkscrew patent

until January 11, 1897. He was granted U. S. Patent No. 583,561 on June 1, 1897. It is, however,

interesting to note that the badges on the bottles above depict Columbus with the wording

“Columbian Souvenir” on one and “Souvenir 1492-1892” on the other. Both are marked PAT

APLD FOR and could very well have been produced for the Exposition, several years before the

patent application was filed on January 11, 1897.

In 1892, Eduard Becker of Solingen, Germany registered a design for a

corkscrew with a split frame. The corkscrew was marked COLUMBUS

and it was registered 400 years after Columbus’ voyage to the “New

World.” In March 1893, the year of the Columbian Exposition, Becker

filed for a German Patent for his corkscrew (No. 70,879). On June 24,

1893, he filed for a U. S. Patent which was granted on April 10, 1894

(No. 518,018). Given the timing of the invention and the name given to

the product, it is quite likely that Becker was capitalizing on the event in

Chicago and may very well have had a corkscrew presence there

amongst the thousands of manufacturers represented. There are several

dozen variations of the Columbus

including the fancy example shown here

which is marked COLUMBUS on one

side of the top of the frame and D. R. P.

N

o

70879 on the other.

Right: Both of these Becker corkscrews are marked COLUMBUS

at the top of the frame. The one on the left is marked on the

reverse FRÜHER D.R.P. 70879 and the other one simply

D.R.PATENT N

O

70879.