On Thursday, TC and I gathered our requisite tromping through the rain gear and headed for May’s–the Thursday field at Brimfield.
After paying our way in, we both walked to the back of the field, and I headed right, and TC headed left.
And, after each side of the field was explored, we retraced the other’s steps, knowing that stuff gets put out over time in this particular field.
With the rain, the field was about half filled with dealers rather than a usual May May’s show, so it didn’t take long, but there was a few corkscrews about, and TC picked up a nice barmount, and I spotted a large tusk with sterling accents, but with a broken worm–or rather a missing worm, as the dealer insisted: “It’s not broken, it’s missing a piece.”
I passed on it, and continued my raining walk, my optimism undampened…
I did pick up yet another bar baby, and found a few overpriced Thomasons.
At some point, TC and met up again, and we compared notes.
Not much to purchase this particular raining morning, but it is one day in a fabulous week of antiquing.
Telling Tommy about the tusk, we walked over to that booth, and I pointed out the Tusk–with a hefty asking price. Tommy literally asked the same question that I did. “How much for the broken corkscrew? To which the dealer replied, “It’s not broken, it’s missing a piece.”
TC decided to take a chance on it…
There were a few other bits picked up in the field, and then it was time for both of us to hit the road.
TC back to Elgin, and the lovely bride and I (she was swinging by to pick me up) for a few days away in at the Mountain View Inn in Whitefield, NH.
A fantastic week!
We made it back to the island yesterday, and who knows what will turn up next?
We are actually into day two of Brimfield, but I will fill you all in on the happenings at Brimfield, and get us up to date.
On Monday, the lovely bride and I headed down from Maine, and decided to make a quick antiquing stop before picking up a chilled bottle of Rose, and heading to our accomodations for the evening.
At this particular stop, we walked, and headed left…and looked at cases and booths and cases, and as we turned a corner, I saw a familar looking handle, with a not common corkscrew appendage. We promptly asked for a key to unlock the case.
Pointing to the corkscrew–there were actually four–I was handed the one with which I was interested, and looking that the price, we said we were taking that one. And, then proceeded to ask for a second of the four, and asked for that one to be added to our pile.
And, then we went about looking at each case and booth in the entire antique mall.
The second piece, is small tusk direct pull with Sterling end cap. The first piece, is pretty amazing. It is a turned Ivory handle–that looks similar to a Will & Finck, but instead of the facted shank, the corkscrew is a wire Clough.
This isn’t some random combination, as the ivory is turned in such a way as to accomodate the double wire construction and you can see how over the years the ivory has been discolored a little by the presence of the iron.
This is best six material!
Now, as I write this, and as I messaged a couple of fellow collectors… I am positive that in my research into San Francisco corkscrews that I read something about…”Marine Ivory WIre Corkscrews.” I have yet to find that re-discover that reference, but…I will get back to searching, and when I find it, I will report back here.
My conjecture here is that one of the SF carvers, made handles for Clough, to his spefications to accomodate the wire wrapping around the handle.
I will add here, I have never heard mention of another ivory handled Clough….
That evening, we settled into camp and TC showed up a bit later. Lots of wine, a bit of trading, followed by dinner and more wine.
The next morning, was Brimfield Day One!
Our little camp is just about 4 miles from the fields of Brimfield–which has made the early mornings less early, and with a more civlized wake up time, coffee was enjoyed and we headed to the show.
It was a beautifully sunny day, and given that rain was in the forecast as the days progressed, the show was slammed.
So fun to see so many people enjoying the fields!l
When we arrived, Tommy and I went separate directions, and the lovely would be joining us a bit later.
I will say, the word has gotten out that people are looking for corkscrews, as there were corkscrews everywhere! Not good corkscrews mind you, but lots of corkscrews.
As the day progressed, I had picked up a couple of treasures and then in one booth found a small tusk direct pull with a scrimshaw design, and as I glanced closer at the same case I saw a familiar worm. And, in short order the small tusk and a Barnes patent bow were soon added to my backpack.
A few more bits followed, and then it was time to head to the local establishment for some refreshments.
As it was Tuesday, as is tradition, we made Tacos back at camp and regaled each other with our show and tell stories.
Day Two–which is today actually.
This morning was another early start, and TC headed off, with the lovely joining us later.
Not much to be found early on, at one dealer, they had a small box of corkscrews, and rifling through, I found a R. Murphy Boston corkscrew, a Williamson marked bow, a small metal handle Haff, and a non corkscrew item with a low package price…
Okay… not terrific, but good. And, as with day one there were a fair amount of corkscrews about:
A bit later, I came across another booth with a few more corkscrews, and picked up a two-tooled bow and a lovely little picnic. Not rare, but a well made piece with a wooden sheath that just feels good in your hands.
The lovely arrived shortly thereafter, and we convenned to pick up what was our third purchase of the trip of old Ball jars. We have a friend that is opening a floral business, and she was seeking out old mason jars. And, from day one, through day two, we have purchased and hauled back to the car 34 older Ball / Mason jars which will serve as vases for her new floral creations.
As Day two came to a close, not that it is closed, as we are still in day two. We hit the last field, and I picked up a Lembeck & Betz Drink American Club Beer figural knife with cigar cutter and corkscrew for cheap, and then we headed off for lunch.
This evening will be dinner and wine, once again, at our place, and if the rain holds off another day of Brimfield-ing tomorrow.
We are into the month of May, and the first Brimfield show of the year starts at daybreak this coming Tuesday.
We will head down on Monday, and hit the local haunts, which is our tradition.
You never know what will turn up, and I will report out each day.
Tommy will be joining us this trip, and there surely will be a couple of trades that will take place…
Note: Tommy! Bring trade bait!
For those that would like to explore Brimfield, I am happy to provide guidance–just drop me a line.
There are three shows a year (May, July, and September) and it begins on Tuesday and continues over the course of the week–depending on the year, it is not uncommon to have thousands of dealers and tens of thousands of buyers.
That said, lodging is tight in Brimfield (pretty non-existent) so your best bet is to book well in advance in Sturbridge (15 minutes give or take depending on traffic, and with traffic you aren’t moving much), or further afield and make the 30-45 minute drive in each morning (again, if you don’t get an early start, you will be stuck in traffic for a loooooong time).
And, you will be walking…a lot.
A. Lot.
Stay tuned for stories and pictures from the fields…
So, yesterday, I posted a picture of a “15 tools in one” Jenkins patent on Facebook in an antique and vintage tool collectors group, explaining that I was looking for one.
I do already have one.
Two actually (thanks Bob).
But, why not see if there are any others out there.
Here is the image I posted.
Within minutes I got two responses asking if I was still looking for one, and alternatively, for me to message them directly.
I responded.
What I received in response (from the first person) was a question about where I was located followed by an image…
This one:
hmmmm….
If you look at the coloring and highlights on the Jenkins, it looks like they took the same image I posted, removed the background, rotated the image, and then put it on a different background…
So, I gave it a go.
Removed Background…
Rotated it counterclockwise by 60 degrees… I started at 45, but gave it a little extra…
Found a random carpet background…
Cut and pasted the aforementioned rotated Jenkins image, and there you go.
I did message the photoshopper with an “appropriate” response.
Just a word for all of the folk looking in groups, facebook marketplace, and elsewhere, there is often someone out there looking to take advantage.
Or, in this case, someones (plural)
As I mentioned, there were two responses (and since, a third, but we haven’t gotten that far yet).
The second person, asked what I would be offering for the one they “had.”
And, after requesting photos, I received a very familiar looking image.
Fuzzy and out of focus, but it looks as if they took the time to go through the same process.
Lose the background, rotate the image (this time to the right) and then paste it on some random background.
Kudos for keeping the shadow however…
Let’s try that again…
Removed Background…
Rotate–this time clockwise 20 degrees…
Random wood background.
Pasted rotated image (and gave it little, albeit crude, shadow…)
I also sent a message to the second photoshopper with an “appropriate” response.
Now, I have to say that I never mentioned that it was a “Jenkins patent” in my post, so the “photoshoppers” didn’t know what to google if they wanted to find a different image, and try the same scam.
On January 30, 2023, I was blogging about the B. Nathan corkscrew that ended up in our collection, and in that same blog, I mentioned:
“But, there is more than one B. Nathan corkscrew.”
And, went to show a bar screw (Yankee Number 7) that had an advertisement for Nathan after he combined his company with Dohrmann Co.
Marked “NATHAN DOHRMANN CO., THE LARGEST BAR SUPPLY COMPANY ON THE PACIFIC COAST, 851 BUSH ST. SAN FRANCISCO.”
but…
apparently…
There are more than two B. Nathan corkscrews!
This morning a deal was struck for another B. NATHAN marked direct pull corkscrew with blade.
Better pictures when it arrives, but a nice addition to the San Francisco collection, and it will be added the San Francisco Corkscrews page soon.
For those that are new to the blog, B. Nathan & Co. was a retailer in San Francisco, and this corkscrew was likely produced for Bernhard Nathan by Will and Finck.
Years ago (20 or so) while we were living in Chicago, BAM (Broadway Antique Market) was one of my regular spots to shop.
It wasn’t often that they had any rare corkscrews, but they did have an alcholic’s section where every once in a while an interesting mid-century bar set might turn up.
Okay, it wasn’t actually called the “alcoholic’s section,” but it was and area that consisted entirely barware…
And, also years ago, while we living in Chicago, I was on the quest for a housewarming gift for our friends Chris and Gary.
These two particular friends had a fantastic collection of vintage martini shakers, and I thought that BAM and the alcoholic’s section might be the perfect place to find one.
So, I headed north on Broadway towards my destination, and after meandering the store looking for corkscrews, I headed to the case where martini shakers often would be found, and there it was, a miniature martini shaker for a fairly inexpensive price.
Asking the person at the counter if they could unlock a case for me–although I have always felt antique shops should just give me a key when I walk in–they reached in and handed me the little shaker.
This was early on in my collecting, and imagine my surprise when opening the shaker a corkscrew was revealed.
Of course, that was quite a while ago, and I have since owned multiple Napier “Bar Baby” minature cocktail shakers with corkscrews, but at the time, as a new collector, I was quite pleased with my find.
Of course, I now needed to find a different housewarming gift for our friends, as surely they didn’t need a 2 oz minature martini shaker with a corkscrew…
And, clearly I did.
As it happened, as I knew I was going to keep the Napier Bar Baby for myself, I did hunt around and found another Napier bar piece; a handsome jigger that they COULD use with their martini shaker collection–and I made sure I have it a good polish before we boxed it up, wrapped it up, and put a bow on it.
The little shaker was placed in the corkscrew case, and the Napier jigger made its way down to Washington DC, where it was promptly put to use in the creation of several cocktails; dirty vodka martini (extra cold, extra dirty) for Sue and I, Aviations for the guys–if you were wondering.
Speaking of polish and Napier minature martini shakers with corkscrews, the other day I picked up another one that seriously needs some polish, and it carries the monogram W.R.K.
That was a pretty fantastic corkscrew auction over the last couple of days. A couple of corkscrews and cork pullers that hit some big prices, and a few that deals that have been made after the dust had settled.
Still, collectorcorkscrews.com was the focus for two afternoons, as the corkscrews of your dreams changed hands, made it into your own collection, or were snatched away by a competing bidder.
The most bids (37) placed on a lot, was for a Robert Jones Westley Richards British Design; Dec. 28, 1849:
The highest price attained was for a fantastic French contraption: Ernest Girondeau’s patent No. 306,606, December 26, 1900–which went for a whopping $30,503.00.
Of course, there were lots of corkscrews that ranged from $100.00 on up into the thousands, and this particular auction really showed some of the rarties are out there–or perhaps more aptly put, WERE out there at some point, and made into one of your collections.
And, while I don’t expect to find a Ernest Girondeau’s patent just laying on a shelf somewhere while searching up and down the coast of Maine (nor a Robert Jones Westley Richards) seeing some of the twisted treasures that changed hands over the last few days is certainly motivating.
Spring is upon us and the antique shows are beginning in New England, and less than a month from now is Brimfield.
Who knows what fantastic corkscrew and cork pullers might turn up.
josef@vintagecorkscrews.com 