The Virtual Corkscrew Museum's Daily Newspaper
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Tuesday, July 22, 2003 |
Augers, Bits, and Corkscrews
Chester, Connecticut, July 22, 1884 - Charles Griswold has been granted United States Patent Number 302,331 for his corkscrew invention. Griswold describes the operation with "the screw having been driven into a cork in a bottle in the usual manner, as soon as the lower edge of the shield bears against the mouth of the bottle, the cork is started and raised a short distance into the flaring mouth of the shield, and the further extraction of the cork is effected by a straight pull upon the handle in the ordinary manner."
Editor: The first factory on the south side of the Pattaconk River in Chester was the bit factory of Griswold built in 1850. When Griswold's patent was issued, the factory was in the hands of the Chester Manufacturing Company owned by Edwin G. SMith, John H. Bailey, and Charles Wright. They manufactured auger bits, corkscrews, reamers and more. Griswold built a second factory in 1854 for the manufacture of augers and bits.
Clough is Back
Brooklyn, New York, July 22, 1884 - William Rockwell Clough has a new corkscrew patent which he states is "an improvement upon the corkscrew patented to me on the 6th day of April, 1875." United States Patent Number 302,321 was issued to him today.
Clough points out that early wire corkscrews were made of a single piece of wire twisted to form a ring handle which could be harsh on the fingers. In 1881 he addressed that problem by flattening the handle. Now Clough has attached his folding worm to a flat metal handle. This handle can also be used for product advertising on the outside and inside of the band. And the corkscrew can be folded for convenient carrying in the pocket.
Editor: Clough manufactured a special large nickel plated decorative brass example marked CLOUGH'S PATENT JULY 22, 1884.
Wirtz, Virginia - For more information on Clough, see the book William Rockwell Clough Inventor and Manufacturer of over a Billion Corkscrews by Ron MacLean and Bob Nugent. The book has been published online in The Virtual Corkscrew Museum at http://www.bullworks.net/clough/book.htm.
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©2003 Don Bull, Editor |
