According to corkscrew historian Ron McLean (I kid you not), it is not known who first came up with the idea of the corkscrew. The very first ones were made with a gun worme, which is a very old tool with a single or double spiral end fitting used to either clean musket barrels or extract unspent charges from them. (Dangerous work, if you can get it). By the early 17th century, blacksmiths were making corkscrews for the same purpose we use them today; namely for removing corks.
In ancient times, wine was stored in terracotta amphoras and later in wooden barrels. In those days, wine was not aged; it was stored and transported before spoilage could set in. The English were the very first to seal wine bottles, using cork from Spain or Portugal. Cork comes from the wood of a species of Oak, which is indigenous to Spain. It would seem logical that corkscrews made their entrance then, as how else could the bottles be opened?
Before World War II, many different types of substances besides wine were bottled and corked for preservation. Some of these included: beer, medicines, cosmetics, nasty relatives and food. Many of these items required a corkscrew for opening. Bottle tops and cans did not become common corked items until the late 1940s.
There are numerous patents for the corkscrew that have been issued from all over the world over the course of the last few hundred years. The earliest dates back to 1795 in England where one was issued to a Mr. Samuel Henshall. Not to be outdone, the French also have a patent, (well actually, one Frenchman named Francois Reve) which dates back to 1828. Still another corkscrew patent was issued to a Mr. Benjamin Loewe of Germany in 1877. Canada has one from 1883 and M.L. Byrn of New York represents the United States in the patent issued to him in 1860.
So my friends, the corkscrew’s exact origins must forever remain a mystery. Shall we invite Hercule Poirot over to solve it? If so, I understand he is a connoisseur of fine wine.
Does anyone have a corkscrew?
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