Walker's New Blade

Erie, Pennsylvania, March 23, 1897 - Erie inventor and manufacturer Edwin Walker who already has several corkscrew patents has come up with yet another. His previous patents included a several bar mounted corkscrews and, on July 25,1893 he received a patent for a wood handle corkscrew which incorporated a "yoke" to assist in removing the cork. He described his invention as "A cork-screw with a yoke thereon adapted to be screwed down upon the top of the bottle as the screw enters the cork, and when the yoke contacts the top of the bottle the continued turning of the screw operates to raise the cork up within the yoke." Walker's Erie Specialty Company has been very successful in marketing this corkscrew to a number of breweries and other firms for advertising purposes.

The current invention is protected by United States Patent Number 579,200 and is entitled "Stopper-Extractor." This new invention relates only to the blade formed on the "yoke" of his previous invention. Walker notes that blades for lifting stoppers from bottles are usually attached to the end of handle which are not convenient and do not offer sufficient leverage to "insert the blade, and pry up and cut the wires." In addition the exposed blade requires extra care in handling. He solves the problem by making "the edge of the blade face another part of the puller" - the screw which then forms a guard for the blade. Walker says "It is out of harm's way when the puller is operated." Walker is already taking orders from many firms for the new design.

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