Smile of the Day Saturday, February 6, 2021

Saturday Feb. 6, 2021’s Smile of the Day: The Bottle Opener

On this Day:

In 1894, the bottle opener was patented by William Painter.

William Painter (20 November 1838 – July 15, 1906) was an Irish – American mechanical engineer, inventor and the founder of Crown Holdings, Inc., a Fortune 500 company. He most notably invented the crown cork bottle cap and bottle opener.

William Painter was born in Ireland to Dr. Edward Painter and Louisa Gilpin Painter. He was the third of seven children, although two died in infancy. At the age of 20, he emigrated to the United States in search of better opportunities. He moved to Baltimore, Maryland in 1865 to begin a career as a foreman at the Murrill & Keizer’s machine shop. He worked with manufacturers to develop a universal neck for all glass bottles and started Crown Cork and Seal in 1892 to manufacture caps that could be used to seal the universal necks.

Painter patented 85 inventions, including the common bottle cap, the bottle opener, a machine for crowning bottles, a paper-folding machine, a safety ejection seat for passenger trains, and also a machine for detecting counterfeit currency. He was inducted to the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2006 (per Wikipedia).

The Crown Cork Cap system was invented by William Painter. This invention was for securing a metal cap to a bottle by crimping the edges closed.

Starting with their debut in 1892, bottle openers have been one of the most useful albeit simple tools to bless beverage lovers. This handy device has survived decades of change and even made it through Prohibition (per qualitylogoproducts.com).

First, a Story:

I have started calling one of my friends “Genie”. Seems every time I open a bottle, he magically appears

Second, a Song:

Of all the things you could store in a bottle, what would be the most valuable to you?

“Time in a Bottle” is a hit single by singer-songwriter Jim Croce. Croce wrote the lyrics after his wife Ingrid told him she was pregnant, in December 1970. It appeared on his 1972 ABC debut album You Don’t Mess Around with Jim and was featured in the 1973 ABC made-for-television movie “She Lives!”. ABC originally did not intend to release the song as a single; but when Croce was killed in a plane crash in September 1973, its lyrics, dealing with mortality and the wish to have more time, had additional resonance. The song subsequently received a large amount of airplay as an album track and demand for a single release built. When it was eventually issued as a 7″, it became his second and final No. 1 hit. After the single had finished its two-week run at the top in early January 1974, the album You Don’t Mess Around with Jim became No. 1 for five weeks. In 1977, “Time in a Bottle” was used as the title for a compilation album of Croce’s love songs.

This is a video of the story behind “Time in a Bottle” featuring Jim Croce’s son, A.J. Croce, singing the song his dad wrote that was written for him.  I hope you enjoy this.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNPbavw50T8)

Thought for the Day:

“My new favourite smell is new baby smell. It makes me so happy. If someone could bottle that, I’d love to have it.” – Jane Krakowski

In response to the Readers’ Digest Smile:

Russ Waugh of Gimli, Manitoba, Canada writes: “When growing up, the Readers’ Digest short stories were likely what made me learn to read.  I really liked it because all articles were short and I could finish one when I did not have a lot of time. Later in life,  Readers’ Digest gave me many topics for Toastmasters topics.”

Cheers!

Have a great day!

Dave & Colleen

© 2021 David J. Bilinsky and Colleen E. Bilinsky