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March 2021 - Antique Shoppe - 15
                                                   Church Key Bottle Openers


                                                    Helped Quench “unchurchable” Thirst

        By Larry LeMasters, LeMasters’ Antique News Service

           A church key or “churchkey” is an American                                                        some bottle openers resemble the heads of large
        slang  term  for  various  types of  bottle  and  can                                                keys that were traditionally  used to lock and
        openers.  Church keys are  simple  hand-operated                                                     unlock church doors.
        devices used for prying the cap (often referred to                                                     Some historians suggest the term “church key”
        as a “crown cork” after the fanciful, crown view                                                     originated  because, for centuries, the best beer
        of the ring of crinkled points around the edge of   Vintage, Hastings Prairie Pride church key valued at $50.  brewers were  monks in  monasteries. To  protect
        the metal closure before it was clamped  on the                                                      their  beer while it aged, the monks locked  the
        neck  of  the  bottle)  off  of  a  glass  bottle.  Glass                                            kegs  in  dark  cellars,  using  locks  that  only  the
        bottles with a crown cork were first invented in                                                     monks had keys for. When church keys first came
        the  1890s by William  Painter  (the  Crown Cork                                                     into usage, someone remembered the monks and
        and Seal Company of Baltimore), but there is no                                                      euphemistically began referring to beer openers as
        historical evidence that the term “church key” was                                                   church keys.
        used for these early bottle openers; although, the                                                     As early as 1935, the term “church key” was
        shape of the earliest bottle openers did resemble                                                    irreverently used when speaking about beer can
        19th century church keys.                     Bronze, old fashioned church key bottle opener valued at $8.  openers. Beer cans with flat tops changed the beer
           The standard church key for crown cork bottles                                                    industry, and a new device was needed that could
        was made of metal with a round, oval, or triangular                                                  puncture the lids (pull tabs were not invented until
        opening at one end that  was used to “grip”  the                                                     1962).  The term “church key” quickly became
        bottle  cap  and  then  leverage  the  cap  off  of  the                                             attached (in spoken words only) to these new can
        bottle. Beer drinkers soon discovered church keys                                                    openers, which were made from a single piece of
        were much more efficient tools for opening beer                                                      pressed metal with a pointed end that was used to
        bottles than teeth were.                                                                             puncture the can tops.
           The open end or business end of a church key                                                        D.F. Sampson, of the American Can Company,
        often resembled the large, ornate keys used on                                                       is  credited  with  inventing  the  flat  top  beer  can
        old-fashioned church locks. But many historians                                                      openers, and instructions for using the can opener
        believe the term “church key” was given to beer   Vintage, brass church key bottle opener with corkscrew inside.    appeared on beer cans around the United States.
        openers as a form of joke since many pastors          This beautiful church key is valued at $35.    Church keys or beer can openers quickly became
        preached  against  the  drinking  of beer  from  the                                                 promotional giveaways that were used to entice
        pulpit. A church key reminded beer drinkers of the                                                   greater sales of beer brands.
        “unchurchable” thing they were doing.  According                                                       Today, church keys are highly collectible,
        to the Churchkey Beer Company in Bellevue,                                                           not  only for their  usage  but also as advertising
        Washington, “It is said if you used a church-key                                                     promotional  items.  At one time  or another,
        opener [to drink beer], you would be less likely to                                                  nearly  all  breweries  gave  away church  keys as
        open the door of a church to attend service.”                                                        advertising promotionals. Some collectors  seek
           While many collectors believe the term “church                                                    only church keys with brewery advertising while
        key”  is old, it  is, in fact,  relatively  new to the   Large, stylish church key bottle opener that was offered on   other collectors purchase church keys that  are
        English  language.  Merriam-Webster  Dictionary                   Etsy for just $2.                  unique in some way and capture their attention,
        states “church key” came into written usage in the                                                   such as a “mermaid” church key that served as a
        early 1950s. And most collectors believe the term originated since the ends of   promotional for Leisy Beer.
                                                                                    Other collectors like looking for church keys considered rare or scarce, such
                                                                                  as a bottle opener from Krueger Brewing, which sold Near Beer during the Great
                                                                                  Depression.
                                                                                    A collector I met at a flea market recently told me that he is trying to find
                                                                                  a church key from every state in the United States. He looks for advertising
                                                                                  that specifically mentions the state, such as church keys advertising Otter Creek
                                                                                  Brewing in Middlebury, Vermont.
                                                                                    Not long ago, I found a  Hastings Brewing  Company  church  key  (from
                                                                                  Hastings, Nebraska) at the bottom of an old toolbox that belonged to my dad,
                                                                                  Ralph LeMasters. Dad didn’t drink, so I’m not sure why one was in his toolbox.
                                                                                  Perhaps he had it because he lived for 30 years in the Cornhusker State, and it
                                                                                  simply found its way to him. That is often how fun collections begin.















        ABOVE L-R Chester Brewery church key valued at $40. • Antique, circa 1894,   ABOVE L-R “From the land of sky blue waters” comes this Hamm’s Beer church
        sterling silver and stag horn church key bottle opener offered on eBay for $45.   key that is valued at $7. • Antique, Krueger Brewing Company church key can
        • Rare, Leisy Beer “mermaid” figural church key bottle opener valued at $40.  and bottle opener, circa 1930s, that is valued at $75.
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