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The Cork Press
Prior to the widespread manufacture of the screw top for bottles
and small glass vessels, which began sometime between 1920 and
1930, the scientific and apothecary standard for small container
closure was the cork stopper. Given the proliferation of glass
vials in different shapes and sizes made by different manufacturers,
a universal solution was needed to compress and taper cork to
fit this vast range of openings. At that time, a workable system
was already in place for cutting the cork. Once a cork close
to the size of the opening was found, it could be gently rolled
and compressed using the cork press. This would taper the cork
to fit the opening of the vial or vessel and thereby seal it.
The Enterprise Manufacturing Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
manufactured the tool shown above, which was patented by C.
L. Lochman of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, whose patent No. 68,093
was issued on August 27, 1867. This tool is an accurate representation
of the diagram in the patent papers. The gold leaf pinstriping
and fine casting detail work are indicative of the ornamentation
often found on seemingly ordinary tools and devices of that
era.
Still commercially available, the cork press is used today primarily
in the scientific community, for whom glass blowers create purpose-built
vessels.
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