Yankee Ingenuity

Chicago, Illinois, June 15, 1907 - Raymond Gilchrist invented a new wall mounted "cork-extractor" and today he received U. S. Patent Number 857,992. He waited almost six years from the application date for the patent. Gilchrist describes the simple operation:

Hold the bottle in position. Raise the handle and the screw enters the cork. Lower the handle, the tightest cork comes out, clean and whole, leaving no broken bits in the bottle, and is automatically discharged from the machine.

The corkscrew is being produced by The Gilchrist Co. of Newark, New Jersey and marketed as the Yankee No. 1. It can be purchased with nickel plating for $1.25 or with silver plating for $3.50. An advertisement headlined "A household necessity" tells the consumer:

Should be in every home. Don't let any woman struggle with a corkscrew to open tightly corked catsup, olive, pickle, medicine on any other bottle. The Yankee is screwed against any upright surface: Icebox, Sideboard, Door Frame or Wall. It's always there. No hunting for a corkscrew, always ready to draw the tightest cork from any bottle.

The Yankee No. 1 is also available with advertising cast into the handle. Customers to date including the Ballantine Brewery in Newark and the Park Brew Company in Rhode Island.

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Never Ending Story

Additions to our Gallery of New Corkscrews Offered as "Old".

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Letter to the Editor

Knock on Wood

Regarding Monday's "Can you open a bottle of wine without a corkscrew?":

I have been on a picnic without a corkscrew and opened the bottle this way: Find a nice tree, hold the bottle above your shoulder (sort of like a spear, with the base of the bottle pointed slightly higher than the cork end) This positions the wine in the bottle to flow to the cork end. Next gently pound the base of the bottle on the tree trunk, repeatedly until the hydraulic pressure forces the cork from the bottle enough for you to grasp it between your thumb and forefinger. It usually takes less than 3 minutes to open. Regards,

Frank Marshall

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