“…but an apology as a cork withdrawing instrument…”

From a 1900 issue of The Atlanta Constitution:

Handy Cork Extractor

Despite its years of use, the corkscrew, as found in the average household, is still but an apology as a cork withdrawing instrument, as it is almost sure to ruin the cork and make it practically valueless, at least after extraction two or three times.  Then again, a corkscrews is not always at hand when most needed, while the little corkscrew substitute recently patented by Joseph R. Kennedy, of Camden, and illustrated herewith, is designed to come with every tightly sealed bottle.  As its cost is but trifling, there is nothing to prevent its adoption by bottlers on the score of economy.  It consists of a narrow strip of flexible tinplate, the ends of which are formed into claws by means of indentations made in the tin When the cork is driven home one of these tin stripes is bent in the form of a loop, one claw going on each side of the cork.  Now, when the cork is pushed into the neck of the bottle the tin strip is drawn in too, and the superfluous length of the tin forming the loop is bent down as to lie flat on top of the cork, the device being made of a very flexible material for that purpose, when a loop is formed into which the finger of any rigid article may be introduced.  

By pulling on this loop the strip is pulled out and in doing so the cork is extracted.  This device can be used over and over again, and its use does not mutilate the cork in anyway.  Perhaps the greatest objection to its use is that it might not produce an air-tight seal, although with suitable corks, properly put in this could be overcome.