Opening remarks or, getting a grip on Handyaid

The jar and bottle opener in action

In November 1952, Clarence Cleveland, executive secretary of the Vermont Railroad Association, addressed the regular monthly meeting of the Barre (Vt.) Rotary Club.

But the Reading, Vt., resident wasn’t there to talk about trains.

Cleveland had a one-track mind for his entrepreneurial venture, offering his hosts insight into the challenge of bringing a new product to market, from patents and trademarks to manufacturing.

The Barre Daily Times described the product as “a small disc of rubber with suction cups.” Cleveland called it Handyaid.

Everyday tasks

I knew nothing about the product until just before Christmas 2025, when I spotted it on a general store’s website.

I’m drawn to simple products that perform everyday tasks well, especially if they are Made in the USA and have a good story behind them.

We already carry the EZ-Duz-It can opener, the “World’s Best Dish Cloth” and Carolina Cotton’s dish towels. They’re all classic, uncomplicated American products that excel at what they do and at a fair price.

Likewise, Handyaid fit that bill.

I found Handyaid’s website and sent an email to owner Karen Clinton, expressing my interest in carrying her product.

Just as Cleveland presented one of his openers to each member of the Barre Rotary, Clinton graciously offered to send me six complimentary Handyaids to try out in our store, 40 Northeast Drive, Hershey.

Besides the Barre Daily Times, the Montpelier Evening Argus also covered that November 1952 Rotary meeting.

The Montpelier newspaper traced Handyaid’s inspiration to 1909, “when (Cleveland) dropped a treasured watch and so dented the case that the jeweler could not unscrew it. Using a piece of inner tube which happened to have a rough surface on one side and successfully opening the case,” the newspaper explained, “the thought of the section cup idea came to mind.”

The Barre newspaper pegged the invention to 1938, Handyaid “developed as result of difficulties in opening containers.” For example, “jars, thermos bottles, flash lights, and other containers that have screw tops.”

Cleveland and his wife, Edith, either had the product manufacturered in New Jersey (according to the Montpelier paper) or Rhode Island (the Barre paper). The latter pegged production at “a quarter million of the handy gadgets.”

It was patented in 1941, according to the Barre paper. Manufacturing began in 1948, the Evening Argus said, in part because of difficulties in securing rubber during World War II.

Edith oversaw Handyaid operations from the kitchen and garage of the Clevelands’ home.

Sold all over the world

Clinton, the current Handyaid owner, filled in more details about the company’s history via email.

“My Dad bought the company in 1972, but not from Clarence or his family,” she wrote. “It changed hands a couple times before my Dad bought it. The design has never changed, although the material went from all different types of rubber to the current rubber-type plastic.

“They used to be made in a giant mold and rubber poured into it like making waffles. Now, they are made with injection manufacturing of the plastic pushed into the mold, much more advanced, but the same design.

“I took over the company from my Dad when his health started failing in 2012 and I made a website. My Dad never used a computer, everything by hand, a typewriter and a P.O. box ... all from our basement!”

Clinton is a retired operating room nurse of 40 years. She said she “knew nothing about any business before I took this over. My father developed Alzheimer's, so I couldn't ask him much. I just started taking orders on my computer and made up my own way of doing things.

“I changed the material to plastic (manufacturer’s request, rubber too expensive and needed to change if I wanted to still make in the USA), and I made it yellow. Thirteen years later, it's still going, sold all over the world!”

Today, Handyaid is manufactured in Plymouth, Mass., a couple hours east of where Clinton lives.

Handyaid is small (five-inch diameter) but substantial, especially compared to the flimsy giveaway jar opener we’ve used for years. And being yellow, the Handyaid is easy to find.

Handyaid’s packaging notes that it can help with loosening and tightening jars and bottles in an array of settings (homes, restaurants, hospitals, workshops, boats, camps) and can be helpful as a non-skid pad, sink stopper or coaster.

It’s a neat little product, but don’t take my word for it.

Come into our store and get your hands on one.