Coca Cola Bottle Opener Unused - Orig. Box Brown & Co. - after 1943

Description

This Starr X Coca Cola wall mount opener appears to be unused. The screw heads, the threads and the two holes in the opener  show no disruption or scratching to their surface which in my opinion makes it "New". Of course the box, as plainly seen, shows wear evidently from very bad storage which per Ebay makes the item termed as "Used". The red coloration applied to the opener is bright and even toned. The cast opener shows no marks that appear to be from usage. It only has what I feel are normal casting imperfections. On the front the STARR "X" is definitely visible. Underneath that is an almost entirely unreadable Patent info. But as I know the last two digits of the patent was 88 I am fairly certain I am seeing 88. On the base rim is the Brown Co. Newport News VA with some of the letters unreadable. The backside of the opener has a possible 18 and below that a Made in USA.  The box as you can see has definite wear but is appropriate to the opener-please views photos.I have dated the opener as 1943 for the following reason. The opener has the backstops from the 1943 patent.
TRADEMARK HISTORY:  Raymond Brown filed the "STARR" trademark under his name in July of 1926. In March of 37 he filed the "STARR X" trademark under Brown Mfg. Co. The company refiled the "STARR" trademark again in Nov. of 49 and again in 69. Due to family deaths the company was eventually sold and the "STARR" Trademark was filed by James Industries  and later by Barbara Brim. In 2005 the "STARR" Trademark again shows up as filed by Brown Mfg. Co. .
COMPANY HISTORY:  In approx. 1909 Raymond Brown and a brother founded Brown Brothers Co., a wholesale grocery company. In approx. 1912 they arranged with a Coca Cola bottler company to bottle and distribute in the territory where they resided. By the 1920's they had a second bottling/distribution territory. This was start of Mr. Brown and family life long involvement with Coke. In approx. 1925 he started Brown Manufacturing Co using the original bottle opener patent created by T. Hamilton in April of 1925. Mr. Brown filed for a patent that was a modified version of Hamiltons. It was granted in Nov. of 1943.
It's main improvement to the original was the inclusion of 2 back stops adjacent to the prying lip of the opener (our opener has the back stops).  These back stops kept bottle caps from being caught in the opener so the bottle cap would not have to be removed by hand. The number at the backside (ours looks to be 18) is an identification number having to do with pattern mold casting. Pattern molds for the US can number from 1 to 200 plus. If an opener was found to have a defect the number allowed the company to know which mold needed to be corrected.
The company still exists today
in Georgia producing openers for bottlers, breweries, wholesalers, distributors, retailers and other manufacturers.
Over the years this internationally known bottle opener has become collectible because of it's history, trademark and variety of Trademark designs for a huge number of companies .
We are seniors and as my husband has health problems I try to only do errands, like Ebay shipping, on Tues. and Fridays.
TEMPORARY DELAY IN SHIPPING: Due to my husband's health I have had to change handling time to 10 days. BUT I should be able in the majority of items to ship in 2 - 6 days. Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding, Cece