by Joseph Parish

Created on: May 19, 2008   Last Updated: May 20, 2008

Don't try to open a church with a church key

I can remember when I was growing up my father would always mention a "Church Key" and all his friends and family knew perfectly well what he was talking about. Today few of the current generation have any concept of what a "Church key" is. Now, we are talking about 1930 - 1960 as a time frame for this slang used to designate a common bottle opener.

Many of the older generation can remember when all beer came in bottles and they did not have any sort of twist off caps but rather they were tight fitting caps which required a special type of tool in which to open them. This traditional bottle opener was nicknamed a "Church Key" and it was made out of metal with either a round or oval opening where you would grip the bottle cap with. You would then give a sharp yank upward and the cap would gracefully fall to the ground.

It was the shape of these unique bottle tools which reminded many people of the handles for the old fashioned keys used on ornamental doors. Usually you could find keys similar to these used to open church doors. They generally were quite large and thus the bottle openers became known as "Church Keys".

Around the 1930s beer was starting to be purchased in cans instead of the usual bottles. The can themselves required a special tool also to open them. The familiar pull tabs found on cans today were not going to be invented until approximately 1962. This familiar tool for the cans was a flat metal strip composed of a sharp point that you would press into the top portion of the can in an attempt to puncture a small triangular shaped hole into it. Usually you would repeat the procedure on the opposite side of the can also. This would let air into the can and allow you to drink from it smoothly. These can openers were also refereed to as "Church Keys" even though they had a slightly different shape.

Bottle caps that were used on the beer bottles are known as crown cork. This name is derived from the ring around the edge resembling a series of crinkled pointed indentations around its perimeter. This particular bottle cap was invented by William Painter in 1898. His original company named Crown Corks and Seal Company located in Baltimore is still functioning today making an assortment of aluminum cans.

So the next time someone mentions having a Church Key don't mistake the concept with breaking into one of your local religious establishments.

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