The Handbook consists of three sections:
1) Picture Guide Section of all known "types" or "styles" of
U. S. Beer and Malt advertising openers and corkscrews.
2) Listings Guide Section of all known
U. S. Beer and Malt advertising openers and corkscrews
for each of the pictured "types" or "styles".
3) Price Guide and Number of Listings Section.
Don Bull's first book "Beer Advertising Openers A Pictorial Guide"
was published in 1978 and was a combination picture ("types" and "styles") and listings guide.
For each "type" or "style" he listed all of the known openers
so this was the start of the "Handbook".
So for "type" A-1, 21 openers were listed and numbered 1 to 21.
For each type all known listings were numbered and in the years to follow
any other listings (or "ULs" for "Unlisted") not in the current handbook
would be added using the next number available.
Also any "types" or "styles" not shown would be added to the Handbook and
they are known as "New Discoveries".
In 1981 Don published "A Price Guide to Beer Advertising Openers and Corkscrews"
which was a pictorial guide and the first price guide published.
The spreadsheet attached shows Don's initial price guide of 1981 and
several updated years
(1994 was the second offical guide issued and has been updated each year since then)
with a price range being shown for each "type" or "style".
Please note for some openers the range can vary greatly and
mainly depends on the brewery name on the opener or corkscrew.
The columns after the price guide show for each year the highest listing number
used by the Handbook for that "type" or "style".
For an "A-1" "type", number range 109-113 was used for 2006.
If a "UL" is made this year for "type" "A-1", the next number used will be 114.
The last few pages show the total number of listings by year and how they have grown since 1978.