Four-Eyed Bottle Openers

Q: I have a figural bottle opener that my grandparents had for many years. I’m 80 years old, so it must be quite old. It’s shaped like a woman’s face. She has red hair, four blue eyes, and big lips open in a smile. Her upper teeth can be used to pull the cap off a bottle. There are holes in her ears so you can nail or screw the opener to the wall. I think there are three more with different faces. Should I keep looking for them in antiques shops or just give up?

A: The best place to find four-eyed bottle openers is at a flea market or online. They are not as old as you think. Four-eyed bottle openers like this were made by Wilton Products, a company in business in Wrightsville, Pennsylvania, from about 1935 to 1989. The company decorated cast iron bottle openers, banks, trivets and other novelty items made by Susquehanna Castings, a company operated by the Wilton family, beginning in 1892. Several different versions of the four-eyed bottle opener were made in at least four shapes, including the woman, a bald man with handlebar mustache, a bald man with a bushy mustache, and a man with hair and mustache. They were hand painted and can be found in different colors. One source says “Seeing double he is a warning against overindulgence in alcohol.” Reproductions have been made.