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The origin of the corkscrew is unknown but it is generally believed that the idea came from the "worm" or "screw" on a ramrod or cleaning rod, used either to extract the charge from a gun or clean it. The first known references and models date from the middle of the XVIIth century when the corkscrew was used primarily for extracting the corks from bottles containing wine, cider or beer.
In the second half of the XVIIth century, the English started to mature their imported wine in bottles rather than casks (the practice of the time in the wine producing regions being to store wine in casks and draw off the required amount for consumption in jugs).
Glass bottles were just beginning to be manufactured industrially and the shape rapidly changed from the bulbous onion shape to a cylindrical shape (similar to the modern bottle), which allowed bottles to be laid on their sides for storage.
This meant that the wine stayed in contact with the cork and therefore the latter did not dry out.
The sides of the bottle necks became parallel requiring a cylindrical cork, this being compressed before insertion into the bottle to ensure a close fit.
Hence the need for a cork extractor, "bottlescrue" or corkscrew.
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The first corkscrews were almost certainly English, although the oldest one in the museum is French, dating from the end of the XVIIth century.
The very first corkscrews were simple instruments, normally in the shape of a "T", the only problem being the physical force required to pull the cork.
Until the introduction of commercial factories in the late XIXth and early XXth century all corkscrews were made by blacksmiths and jewellers. They were the only people with the metalworking skills needed to make articles from metal. The best blacksmiths were indeed craftsmen as is clear from the items they made.
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| With the arrival of the Industrial Revolution and the increased use of machines for working metals, manufacturers began to apply themselves to the problems of easing the task of drawing a cork from a bottle. |
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