Gadgets and societal evolution

[The_Doc_Man]

I'm going to switch discussions to cover a low-tech gadget that was ubiquitous when I was a kid, but modern times have left it as a distant memory. I refer to that simplest and most useful of tools ... the "church key." You know it as the bar of metal with a bottle-cap opener at one end and pointed canned-drink opener at the other end.

Now, you have twist-off bottle caps and pull-tab cans, leaving that simple but eminently practical and popular tool to rust away to nothing in the back of the kitchen "junk" drawer.

I miss simpler times.

[pbaldy]

I used one last night! Not all beer bottles are twist-offs.

[Galaxiom]

Originally Posted by The_Doc_Man

I refer to that simplest and most useful of tools ... the "church key." You know it as the bar of metal with a bottle-cap opener at one end and pointed canned-drink opener at the other end.

Here is a link to the history of the Church Key with pictures. William Painter invented it two years after he invented the bottle cap. Must have been a frustrating couple of years.

After such a glorious start to his career Painter went on to patent an ejector seat for passenger trains.

Aside from the bottle and can opener all built into the same end, one of ours also has prongs that hook onto the edge of a jar lid to lift it and break the vacuum seal. Can't find a photo online.

It is so simple and effective. I really wonder about all those silly jar tools that try to grip the edges of the lid to apply extra twist.

The thing is a family heirloom from the 1960s or earlier. It originally had a colourful painted wooden handle but all the paint has long gone.