From the history of openers

22. dubna 2024

We take them for granted, and they've been around forever. When we were born, everyone around us was already using them. Yet it wasn't until the early 19th century that the first one appeared, and the second at the end of it. We're talking about can and bottle openers - now a perfectly normal part of our lives, and also the entire range of Mikov knives.

The patent for the tin-plated steel can opener was obtained in 1810 by the British merchant Peter Durand. He solved the problem of food storage, which had a great impact especially on the military and travel, but the problem of opening remained. A hammer or chisel was certainly not a safe or practical tool.

But it took almost another 50 years before the first patent for a can opener was granted. It was obtained in 1858 in the USA by Ezra Warner. It wasn't yet the simple tool that Mikov used on his Hundred, Praktik or Fixir knives, but the way was open.

The crown bottle opener, which Mikov makes in its classic form on the Handy waiter's knife, is even younger. Yet for most of the 19th, century, bottles were still closed in a variety of ways, including cork stoppers and porcelain caps that were fastened with wires. These methods were unreliable, and beer or soda often became contaminated or leaked carbon dioxide inside the bottle. It was not until 1892 that the American inventor William Painter patented the safe and reliable system of filling, capping and opening bottles that we still use today.

Painter's bottle capping system has spread throughout the world. Its popularity is illustrated, for example, by the Repetitor knife base, which is shaped like a crown cap. The reason for this is clear - the shape of the Repetitor knife refers to the bayonet used by soldiers in the days of the compulsory two-year war. And soldiers liked beer.