A Concise History: The Corkscrew
The Age
Monday December 31, 2007
THESE days, when easy access to liquor is regarded as a fundamental human right, it is hard to believe that carousers were once reduced to gouging the cork out with a sharp object, or breaking the neck of the bottle over a nearby rock or bystander.
Though Archimedes had successfully demonstrated a primitive corkscrew during the siege of Syracuse, the ensuing Dark Ages saw little progress in corkscrew technology, and the only notable Renaissance design was Leonardo Da Vinci's elegant if frustrating doublehelix corkscrew, which removed and replaced the cork simultaneously. In the 18th century the "Temperance" corkscrew, made entirely of indiarubber, served to bemuse the drinking classes, but the seriously thirsty had to wait until 1805 before an enlightened aristocrat, the Comte de Tire-Bouchon, finally patented his "device unique for the removing of the cork". This landmark prompted a revolution in French corkscrew refinement, producing such innovations as the "formidable", a powerful steam-driven extractor and the "lazy suzanne", a cantilevered instrument for the use of the gentler sex. Of the "waiter's friend", a low corkscrew of dubious morals, the less said the better. -- ANDREW DYSON
© 2007 The Age
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