Church key anecdote

[Douglas G. Wilson]

>In my lost youth, "church key" referred specifically to the tool that
>punched a triangular hole in a beer can. This was the case in St. Louis
>in the 'Fifties, and 'Sixties. Some models were double-ended, with the
>other end designed to open the crown caps of bottles. The suggestion
>that this tool has been rendered obsolete by pull-tabs and twist-off
>caps makes perfect sense to me.

I agree. There was a similar discussion here in 2000, but I didn't
participate AFAIK.

When I was young[er] we used the term to refer to either the can-opener or
the bottle-opener (or the combo). It had to be a one-piece thing like a key
though IIRC: something with a lever or a wheel wouldn't qualify (IIRC), nor
would the fixed bottle-opener attached to a vending machine or a cooler.

-- Doug Wilson