History of The Crown Cork & Bottle Openers

 

Bottle openers, those wonderful things that open beer, only became commonplace after the crown top (also known as the crown cork) was invented by an American of British descent named William Painter in 1892.

Via: Timetoast

The Crown Cap was unique and tremendous invention. It was simple, single-use, economical to produce, and absolutely leakproof. Prior to the crown cork, beer and soft drinks were supplied with attached stoppers. While convenient for consumers, the stoppers did a poor job of keeping the contents of the bottle fresh which meant flat unhygienic beer. 

 

Crown-top bottles were a huge improvement from a health standpoint  but also required openers to be created and hence Painter invented the Crown seal bottle opener. Dating openers is very difficult, but registered numbers on our openers gives us the openers history. Our 1924 Bottle Opener The number RD. 702661 dates back to 1924 and our 1936 Bottle Opener has the numbers RD. 811274 on one side and PT. 466444, a design registered in 1936.

 

 

William Painters crown technology was embraced by more and more bottlers, bottle openers were produced in enormous numbers, usually with advertisements on them for beverages, bars, and restaurants. It is thanks to him that we can enjoy a refreshing bottle of beer or two!

We love this tradition of advertising on bottle openers and hence started up The British Bottle Opener Company in 2018 to make quality cast iron bottle openers they way they used to be!