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Attached to this Nifty is a fastening device for keys etc.

patented by Harry L. Vaughan in 1915 (No. 1,145,173)

and assigned to the Crown Throat & Opener Co. (first

name of Vaughan Co.), Chicago. It is marked E Z

SLYDE, C T & O CO. CHICAGO PAT APL’D FOR.

The Nifty is marked C T & O CO. CHICAGO PAT

ALLD. Both the Nifty and the fastener advertise Old

Style Lager Beer from the G. Heileman Brewing Co. in

LaCrosse, Wisconsin.

The three Nifty-like corkscrew/openers are all made of a single stamping with corkscrew

applied. It is U. S. Patent No. 1,680,291 granted to Thomas Harding, Newark, New Jersey on

August 14, 1928. The patent was assigned to J. L. Sommer Manufacturing Co., the name on the

middle piece. The flip side says “Denver, July 10-13

th

, 1928” and is marked PAT. PEND. – the

date is one month before the patent issue.

The top and bottom pieces with key cases are marked PAT NO. 1680291. The top has “Ajax” on

one side and the case is a souvenir of Skyline Drive, Virginia. The bottom one has a file on one

side and a three-inch ruler on the other. On one side is “Designed by American Plate Glass Co.,

Bottle Division, N. Y.,U.S. Patent No. 1680291.”