The Irreplaceable Gilhoolie
Dec. 20th, 2002 11:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tmcgGooglewhack:
"Your search - gilhoolie jar opener device - did not match any documents."
"Your search - gilhoolie jar opener - did not match any documents."
"Your search - gilhoolie opener - did not match any documents."
When your hands are totally effed up by martial arts and you kind of want them to get better, you acquiesce when they tell you that no, they really aren't going to open this fresh bottle of Diet Cherry Coke. You remind yourself that you are a tool-using Homo sapiens (cf. the packaging unopenable by opposable-thumbed hands). You get out...
THE GIZMO.
The Gizmo is this thing we've always had around the house. It's the kind of object they'd give you in writing class as an exercise in describing the indescribable. It grabs the lids of jars and helps you open them. It's a kind of ratchet with dull grabber teeth. Mine, which I suppose amounts to a family heirloom at this point, says GILHOOLIE on the side. That's such a fun word that I don't know why we resorted to calling it the Gizmo. It's just fun to say, like "Cuddledown" and "Noodle Kidoodle" and "Pudgie's" and "We are the Fallorie Men." I looked for a link to post here as illustration, but while there are tons of other jar openers out there, from pieces of rubber in the shape of things like cell phones (who thinks these things up?) to jar openers that look like they would open only jars (nothing so small-diameter as a bottle) to complex electrical devices you have to install under a cabinet (if I have to get the drill out, screw it), I could not find a current version of the old Gilhoolie.
This is a great loss to Western civilization.
I will guard my Gilhoolie with my life, for it may be the last of its kind.
------
18 Oct 2005 update: Thanks to all the people who've commented! Apparently there isn't much information about the Gilhoolie out there, so a Google search now turns up this page. How...recursive! I've started a gallery of Gilhoolie pictures here. First entry is a scan from Ron Peterson of the gizmo's debut as a contest winner in a 1953 issue of Mechanix Illustrated. Actually two scans, one higher-resolution so the text is more easily readable. To think that the irreplaceable gizmo was invented by a retired dentist from Yonkers! Or maybe that's not so odd, since getting stubborn caps to turn can be like pulling teeth.
My Gilhoolie looks a bit different from this one, and the manufacturer seems to have moved to Connecticut at some point, so there was evolution after this point. I'll be uploading more pictures as I can. Also, check the comments here for more information.
Nov 2005 update: The Vermont Country Store sells Gilhoolies. Hooray!
"Your search - gilhoolie jar opener device - did not match any documents."
"Your search - gilhoolie jar opener - did not match any documents."
"Your search - gilhoolie opener - did not match any documents."
When your hands are totally effed up by martial arts and you kind of want them to get better, you acquiesce when they tell you that no, they really aren't going to open this fresh bottle of Diet Cherry Coke. You remind yourself that you are a tool-using Homo sapiens (cf. the packaging unopenable by opposable-thumbed hands). You get out...
THE GIZMO.
The Gizmo is this thing we've always had around the house. It's the kind of object they'd give you in writing class as an exercise in describing the indescribable. It grabs the lids of jars and helps you open them. It's a kind of ratchet with dull grabber teeth. Mine, which I suppose amounts to a family heirloom at this point, says GILHOOLIE on the side. That's such a fun word that I don't know why we resorted to calling it the Gizmo. It's just fun to say, like "Cuddledown" and "Noodle Kidoodle" and "Pudgie's" and "We are the Fallorie Men." I looked for a link to post here as illustration, but while there are tons of other jar openers out there, from pieces of rubber in the shape of things like cell phones (who thinks these things up?) to jar openers that look like they would open only jars (nothing so small-diameter as a bottle) to complex electrical devices you have to install under a cabinet (if I have to get the drill out, screw it), I could not find a current version of the old Gilhoolie.
This is a great loss to Western civilization.
I will guard my Gilhoolie with my life, for it may be the last of its kind.
------
18 Oct 2005 update: Thanks to all the people who've commented! Apparently there isn't much information about the Gilhoolie out there, so a Google search now turns up this page. How...recursive! I've started a gallery of Gilhoolie pictures here. First entry is a scan from Ron Peterson of the gizmo's debut as a contest winner in a 1953 issue of Mechanix Illustrated. Actually two scans, one higher-resolution so the text is more easily readable. To think that the irreplaceable gizmo was invented by a retired dentist from Yonkers! Or maybe that's not so odd, since getting stubborn caps to turn can be like pulling teeth.
My Gilhoolie looks a bit different from this one, and the manufacturer seems to have moved to Connecticut at some point, so there was evolution after this point. I'll be uploading more pictures as I can. Also, check the comments here for more information.
Nov 2005 update: The Vermont Country Store sells Gilhoolies. Hooray!
gilhoolie
Date: 2005-12-26 09:59 pm (UTC)I'm also going to send one to each of my three sisters (I'm the lucky one who ended up with the original) and also to a nephew who has traveled to Ireland several time and likes being a "Gilhooley" by ancestry, though not by name. Unfortunately our line in the US died with my parents. We'll have to pick up the line again in Ireland -- still looking for some key information.
Meanwhile, I'll check this site periodically to watch for more news on the jar opener and its history. It's fun seeing my almost-name talked about so much.
Re: gilhoolie
Date: 2006-05-23 08:05 pm (UTC)Re: gilhoolie
Date: 2006-08-26 11:46 pm (UTC)Happy Gilhoolie-ing! ;) Liz L in New Hampshire
http://www.vermontcountrystore.com
Re: gilhoolie
Date: 2008-04-02 12:32 am (UTC)Re: gilhoolie
Date: 2008-08-19 08:45 pm (UTC)I bought mine, a "Gilhoolie"?, at a Thrift Store in Phoenix, Arizona, about 15 years back fer my Mother, who needed it. Before she died, I asked her to tag it for return to me, which she didn't do - but I got it back anyhow.
Mine has NO "Gilhoolie" stamped on it. It is stamped:
"Pat.No.2669142
Others Pend.
Riswell Inc.
Cos Cob, Conn."
These days, I need it so I am sure lucky to have got it back!