When the need for a leak proof bottle closure became apparent, the inventor, William Painter, designed the crown cork bottle cap. It was patented in Baltimore Maryland in 1892. The name crown was chosen because the cap resembled the crown of the British Queen. The design was engineered to be pressed over the glass lip of a bottle. A crown cap consisted of a metal cap, an interior cork seal, paper backing and twenty four teeth or tines. A bottle opener was required to open the one use cap. The design has withstood the test of time and with some minor changes is still in use today for many beer bottles. Today’s crown caps are manufactured with twenty one teeth rather than twenty four, and a plastic liner rather than cork.
Capping equipment: William Painter was also responsible for inventing the equipment needed to place the caps on the bottles. He designed a foot operated machine capable of capping twenty four bottles in one minute. With patents on his crown cork caps and the capping machinery in place, he opened the Bottle Seal Company, later changed to Crown Cork & Seal, still in existence and known today as Crown Holdings.
Children’s bottle cap game: In 1910, the New York Times published a story on a popular street game being played on the streets of New York neighborhoods as well as some other urban areas. The game was called Skully, and used bottle caps in place of marbles, which had the problem of rolling away on the pavement. The game consisted of a board drawn with chalk on the sidewalk with bottle caps used as the game pieces. The rules varied with the area, or the group playing, and were loosely adhered to. There is evidence that the game was still being played into the 1980’s, but then disappeared. Some bottle cap enthusiasts would like to see a resurgence of the game and believe it could be the next fad.
Need for more caps: In the early to mid 1900’s, the manufacture of glass bottles increased rapidly, increasing the need for more caps. Almost all soft drink and beer bottles sported crown cork bottle caps. This increase in crown caps led to an increase in bottle cap openers and every family owned several. Bottle caps and openers soon became collector’s items.
Twist off caps: Due to dwindling supplies of cork and the availability of less expensive manufacturing materials, in 1960 a new type of bottle cap came into existence. The twist off crown cap was pressed around screw threads allowing the bottle to be opened and closed easily. No longer was there a need to consume the whole bottle at one time, it could be closed, reopened and finished at a later time. A bottle opener was no longer needed, waste was eliminated and convenience was gained. For most Americans this was a welcome change. Today, twist off caps are made of aluminum or plastic. Some beer bottles still have the old crown cap with the metal teeth requiring a bottle opener, however, the cork has been replaced with plastic. These bottles are still in use because they add character and nostalgia to the bottle.
Bottle cap museum: Grayling Michigan is the home of the Bottle Cap Museum. It displays hundreds of thousands of bottle caps, has a working 50’s style soda fountain, a diner and a gift shop. If you are a bottle cap collector, it may be worth a visit.
Summary: It is often said that “Necessity is the mother of invention”. The necessity of preventing leakage of bottled liquids led to the invention of the bottle cap, a small convenience that we use every day and don’t think about. The next time you remove a bottle cap, consider how much bottle caps have simplified our lives, added convenience and eliminated a lot of waste.
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