Cork was
used already by the ancient Greeks and Romans as stopper for amphoras
and jars.
This already in the 6th century BC. But after the
collapse of the Roman Empire the usage of cork seems
to have ceased. First in the 17th century does cork re-appear as
wine closure. This time together with the usage of glass
bottles. In the early days, before the corkscrew, a
cord tied around the top of the cork
was used to extract the cork.
Not much is known about the early corkscrews. The
earliest references are from England in the 17th century.
The first known patent dates back to 1795, granted in
England. But the first corkscrews were probably not used to open
bottles of wine, more likely they were used to open bottles
of beer and cider. The first corkscrews were derived from a
gun worm(e), a tool with a single or double spiral end fitting
used to extract stuck bullets from rifles. Often silver was
used for the early corkscrews. The simple models had a
wooden handle attached the metallic worm. Similar to the
most basic corkscrews still used today.
The German Carl Wienke is supposed to have
invented the single lever type corkscrew, often called the
Waiter's Friend or Sommelier Knife. Wienke was granted a
German patent in 1882. Later he was granted patents in
England and France.
The first patent for the double winged lever
type corkscrew is supposed to be from 1888, granted to the
Englishman Heeley.
Another design is the two pronged cork puller, sometimes
called the Butler's Friend. The latter does not damage the cork, making it possible to put the
cork back into the bottle. It is also the
best tool for opening bottles with damaged or fragile corks. Single pronged
cork pullers have been known since 1868. The
first reference of the two pronged cork puller seems to be in
1877 by Benjamin Lew in Berlin.
In 1979 Herbert Allen, Houston TX, invented the
Screwpull corkscrew, a self-pulling corkscrew which almost effortlessly gets
the cork out of the bottle. The screwpull
model became almost an instant success and is widely used today
despite being such a recent invention.
The most prestigious corkscrews are
made in Laguiole, France, roughly 280 kilometer east of Bordeaux. But not
all corkscrews that are called Laguiole are made in Laguiole. The name
Laguiole is not legally restricted to the town Laguiole. Laguiole was previously
well known for its knives, in 1880 the knife was improved and the corkscrew was
added.
Nowadays, the screw caps provide the best way of sealing wine bottles, making the corkscrew redundant. But given that most people associate screw caps with low quality wines, the corkscrew seems to have a safe job. Even if its job market may become limited to the expensive and prestigious wines.
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