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J U S T FOR OPENERS OCT 2 013 - JAN 2014 ISSU E #138PAGE 6A Missouri man is King of Beer’s bottle openers by Matthew D. Ernst for Antique WeekSAINT LOUIS, Mo. — Art Santen owns about 35,000unique bottle openers and corkscrews, plus another7,000 duplicates. And the 79-year old is downsizing.“I’m trying to get rid of some of these so my kids don’thave to!” he said.Formerly listed in the Guinness Book of World Recordsand named fX network’s “Most Passionate Collector”in 1995, Art Santen is singular among U.S.opener collectors for his collection’s volume. But hestarted saving openers in the 1950s for the same reasonas most: regional or nostalgic interest. “My father soldhis tavern and just kept a ring of Griesedieck Brothersbeer bottle openers,” said Art. “That got me wonderingif other companies had so many openers,” he said.Other companies did have openers and, with the rise ofmicrobreweries, more openers are being made. “Thereare about 1,600 styles of openers, with more than17,000 unique openers known,” said John Stanley, whoedits the quarterly newsletter of the Just For Openerscollectors club at www.just-for-openers.org.Stanley reports eBay sale prices in the newsletter; theJuly edition reported many beer and soda openersavailable for less than $20. “We tend to get membersin the Just For Openers club who are in their 40s or 50sand are looking for a less expensive entry into breweryadvertising,” said Stanley.Art Santen has more than 40,000 bottle openers,corkscrews, cigar box openers and other packageopeners in his collection. The lifelong St.Louisan’s collection includes some 1,000 Budweiserand Anheuser-Busch openers. (Photo byEd Beumer )But that does not mean openers always comecheap. Turn-of-the century openers, manufacturedto open the crown cork invented by Baltimore’sWilliam Painter in 1892, are desirable.Pre-prohibition beer openers – as well as openersproduced for use in speakeasies during Prohibition– are also desirable.Antique openers were made for many corked containers.Art Santen’s collection includes this set of smallornate openers for corks on perfume bottles. (Photoby Ed Beumer)The Just For Openers newsletter reported morecollectable beer openers fetching $200 to $300on eBay this year. A lithographed Henry HessBrewing Philadelphia opener fetched $403.Soda bottle openers are also still desirable, with
J U S T FOR OPENERS OCT 2 013 - JAN 2014 ISSU E #138PAGE 7A Missouri man is King of Beer’s bottle openers by Matthew D. Ernst (Continued)Coca-Cola openers often leading bid prices. In July,Just For Openers noted a wall-mounted OrangeCrush opener selling for more than $600 on eBay.But regional interest drives many specialized collectors.Art Santen, a lifelong St. Louisan, has around1000 Budweiser and Anheuser Busch openers, includingthe company’s first known editions. “They’remy pride,” said Art.Beer and soda bottle openers and corkscrews are themost popular collectible openers, but the “opener”category extends to anything used for opening containers,like antique cigar box openers. One subset ofopener collecting is the “figural” opener category.According to the Figural Bottle Opener Collectorsclub, figural openers are 1) three dimensional on allsides; 2) designed for the sole purpose of opening abottle; 3) may be free standing or wall mounted; 4)the part of the opener that lifts the bottle cap shouldbe an integral part of the figure. Most figural openersare made of painted cast iron or aluminum.Openers, like other niche collectibles, also offer collectorsa sense of community and camaraderie. TheFigural Bottle Openers (http://figuralbottleopener.org) will hold their meeting June20-21 in Denver, Pa. The Just For Openers club willhold its annual meeting from April 10-14 in ChapelHill, N.C.Art Santen has cut back on his travel as he approaches80, but he’s planning to make next year’sNorth Carolina meeting. He said he’s loved the companyand the good humor that most collectors bringto the hobby. Santen’s humor was obvious as hesifted through a box of wire bottle openers in his St.Louis collection. As one fell to the floor, the sprycollector swooped down to pick it up, saying, “Youknow why I save openers? They don’t break!”eBay bids topped out at $403 for this lithographedHenry Hess opener in 2013. Photo byJohn Stanley just-for-openers.orgA Seitz Brewery “slider” opener set a record for slideropeners in 2008 when it sold for $846.35 on eBay.Photo by John Stanley just-for-openers.orgBrewery Bonanza by Jackie Burrell (sent in by John Cartwright and Jack Ford)And speaking of beer, it’s not your imagination that a new California brewery seems to open every few days. Some948 new breweries opened across the U. S. last year bringing the total to a record breaking milestone—3,699, accordingto the Beer Institute’s just-released stats for 2013. Check out the eye-popping chart. That gap between 1920 and1933 is, of course, Prohibition. The start of the stratosphericrise in 1977? The launch of a tax deal for smallbreweries that lowered excise taxes on their first 60,000barrels. We’d like to thank Anchor Steam, Fritz Maytagand the undoubted craft-beer-is-cool factor had somethingto do with that dramatic rise too. California leadsthe nation with 508 breweries, up from 363 in 2012—ora new California brewery every 0.40 days.
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