The Old Soft Shoe

Solingen, Germany, September 4, 1897 - Ernst Steinfeld has registered a design for a corkscrew in which two shoes surround a worm when stored in a pocket and unfold to form a t-handle when in use. Steinfeld already has a June, 1894 design registration to his credit. In that design he used two leg shape arms in a wood handle spring assist corkscrew.

Prior to that, Steinfeld teamed up with Ernst Reimer in January of 1894 to design a corkscrew in the form of folding lady's legs. A worm is squeezed between the legs. The legs have become a hot "gay nineties" item with a wide variety of stocking colors being produced.

---

Jorres or Williamson?

St. Louis, Missouri, September 4, 1900 - Ralph W. Jorres has received United States Patent Number 657,421 for his "Corkscrew." The patent has been assigned to William A. Williamson of Newark, New Jersey for production.

Jorres patent takes an 1897 patent by Williamson and moves the connecting point for the worm from the bottom half of the "bottle" design to the top. In both patents the corkscrew is concealed inside a small bottle or bullet shape. The ends thread together and when unscrewed, a helix pivots at an angle to the base. The two pieces are then screwed back together to form the handle.

It is interesting to note that there is no mention of the prior Williamson patent in Jorres description. Williamson has already produced his patent bottle with a number of different company advertising plates. In the production of the Jorres patent, the lower casing is the same and since the Jorres application was filed in February, these are produced using the June 1 '97 patent marks.

---

News Index

---