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]

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.

 

[AlanWeb]

I understand you very well because I also miss when everything was easy. But now is a different time and there is no place for simple technology. Unless you live in the woods of course. As for me, I prefer to use modern technology and I want to understand that I have the opportunity to work at home with , on the couch or if I want I can call at any time a friend on the other continent. You know what I mean?

 

[The_Doc_Man]

I used to be interested in archery. Not that I ever wanted to be "the great big-game hunter" or anything like that. But it was a fun activity. These days, with all of the new bows with compounding, pulleys, and counter-weight balancing, all I can say is "Holy Moley." The English bowmen at the battle of Agincourt (think Henry V) just had a simple long bow and long, straight arrows. That was all that was needed to make the place a bloody mess and turn the tide on that battle.