As the 1800s rolled around, all bottles, be it wine, beer, or cider, were tightly corked. There was a need for something quick and efficient that the masses could use in all situations, from home to taverns, restaurants, and hotels. It seemed as if the Henshall corkscrew was seeing its last days, although it took more than a half-century until the following major patent was introduced, revolutionizing the industry. The Mounted Corkscrew was invented and sought to meet this need. This corkscrew was essentially clamped or screwed into counters or walls. Although not ideal for wine, it did the job perfectly fast for beers and ciders. In 1882, the German inventor Carl F.A. Wienke patented the waiter’s friend, also referred to as a butler’s friend, wine key, and sommelier knife, in Germany, England, and America. Although it has been redeveloped and improved upon many times, its core design remains the same today. It employs a screw and a single lever. First, the worm is screwed into the cork. Once it reaches the desired depth, the lever is placed on the bottle’s lip and used as a fulcrum until the cork is slowly extracted upwards. It was patented in 1883 in America as the C.F.A. Wienke Lever Corkscrew.

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The next major corkscrew redesign was much more intuitive and friendly to non-professional and private enthusiasts. It operates using a pair of handles which are used to grip the neck of the bottle, and a lever that is simply pressed down to twist the screw into the cork and then lifted to extract the cork. However, this device was large and heavy, making it impractical. A major upgrade was made to this design not long after, and it became popular so quickly that it was patented in many places. H. S. Heeley obtained the original patent in Britain in 1888. It was known as the A1 Heeley Double Lever or, more casually, as the ‘jumping jack.’ Later in 1930, Dominick Rosati patented it in the U.S., while in 1932, the Spanish industrial designer David Olañeta patented it in Spain. This simplicity is that as one twists the worm downward into the cork, the two levers on both sides rise upward on their own. Then, with a quick and easy motion, the two levers are pressed down, and the cork is pulled out of the bottle. Good quality metal versions are preferred, as cheap plastic or other imitations may break the cork. Often dismissed by professionals who prefer one of the many variations of Wienke’s waiter’s friend, it is still a very commonly used tool at home for the casual aficionado.