This Murine for Eyes advertisement appears in multiple newspapers in 1915/1916.
Murine is prepared by our Physicians, as used for many years in their practice, new dedicated to the Public and sold by Your Druggist. Try Murine to Refresh, Cleanse, and Strengthen Eyes after exposure to Cold Cutting Winds and Dust and to restore healthful tone to Eyes Reddend and made Sore by Overwork and Eye Strain.
Some broadminded Physicians use and recommend Murine while others perhaps jealous of its Success, talk and rush into print in opposition; those whose eyes need care can guess why, as there is no Prescription fee in Murine. Just hand your Druggist 50c and you have a complete Pkg. Eye Book-Murine-Dropper-and cork screw-ready for use. Try it in your Eyes and. In Baby’s Eyes for Eye Troubles—No Smarting—Just Eye Comfort. Write for Book of the Eye Free.
Murine Eye Remedy Company, Chicago.
After a quick search, it looks like the corkscrew that came with the Murine bottle, was a little Clough wire:
The PATENT APPLIED FOR Haff patent arrived yesterday, and as expected, there are a few differences between the Haff with the patent dates and the new arrival.
The most obvious being the different marking.
Still, in placing the corkscrews next to each other, the PAT APPLIED FOR example has a different handle; larger with a different shape to it.
As I have mentioned in the past, one of the best pieces of advice I ever received as a corkscrew collector, was not offered up as a piece of sage advice, but rather posed as a question. “Are you sure?”
Are you sure that you already have this?
Are you sure that it is a duplicate?
Are you sure there isn’t some subtle difference between the one(s) that you have in your collection, and the one that you just discovered?
And, it goes that way,,, There are two versions of the Philos Blake. There are two variations of the Sperry. There are two variations of the Trunk. There multiple variations of the Mumford. Yes, you would know the folding example, or the flat square example, on sight, but there are four different variations of the round Mumford.
As it happened, the other day, I struck a deal for a few corkscrews; four of them from a fellow collector.
The first, fits well into the Lowenstein corkscrew collection, as it is a Lowenstein patent with advertising for THE GREAT A & P TEA CO’S EXTRACTS.
If you would like to learn more about the Lowenstein bottle attachment patent, you can read about it here:
The second is a figural dog corkscrew with no markings, but surely made by the same make of the mystery figural corkscrew that I found in Brimfield–again, if anyone knows the origins of this corkscrew, please drop me a line.
The third is the “Are you sure…?” corkscrew.
In 2019, I picked up a Haff patent with frame and spring. And, in 2021, I picked up another one. Both marked identically with “HAFF MF’G CO., NEW YORK, PATD APL. 14 85 MAY 5TH 85,” and one ultimately was sent to Little Rock.
And, one might look at this and think, I already have this. But, this one is marked PATENT APPLIED FOR. And, it will be interesting to compare it to the example that we have in the collection to see if there are other differences!
The fourth is definitely a duplicate, and it was a nice little throw-in piece.
Or as TC would say, “icing.”
And, that is the Hall’s Red Devil Skull poison indicator…
Thanks for the deal!!! Some juicy stuff heading to the island.
Speaking of Brimfield, back when BT was a regular attendee at Brimfield, we would cross each others’ paths as we were traipsing around the fields, and I would usually ask
“Any finds?”
To which he would respond:
“A few bits and bobs.”
Later on in the day (or depending on where we were staying, perhaps in the evening) he would pull out the “bits and bobs” that he had picked up, and show them to me. A Hollweg, a couple of T’s with brushes, perhaps an odd multitool; common stuff really for an advanced collector, but worth picking up for eBay or tradebait.
As of the past week, I have found myself picking up some bits…
Not sure if they are also bobs.
But, they are duplicates of corkscrews already in the collection, and defintely worth picking up.
And, also available for trade, should any of you need to add one or all of these to your respective collections.
Small version of the Korkmaster, T incised with CLARK, Adelaide-like T with blade and brush (which should end up in Australia), and a Ruby patent mechanical pencil.
So, if you are in need of a bit or a bob, feel free to drop me a line.
Brimfield is still going on, today and through the weekend, and the lovely personal trainer, TC, and I had some fantastic times over the last few days.
We headed down on Sunday, returning to our new favorite airbnb spot only 4 miles from the show. And, we were well stocked with lots of groceries, wine, and the requisite “coffee kit.” That is a little set that we bring with us when traveling where coffee is not readily available, or worse, the coffee is not good.
After settling in, we enjoyed the screened in sunporch. That’s Tommy’s cabin off in the distance–and Chinon Rosé in the glasses…
The next day, we explored the area bit, and hit a couple of antique stores, a small flea market that always precedes Brimfield, and got dinner prepared in anticipation of Tommy arriving at his airbnb.
With Tommy arriving as scheduled we had a wonderful meal together with lots of reminiscing of our countless adventures together, a few tales of recent acquisitions, and plans for the next morning.
Morning arrived quickly, and with Tommy and I heading to the fields at daybreak, the hunt began. And, there were corkscrews to be had. Some common, some good, some interesting, and many that I passed up, as they were duplicates, triplicates, or priced a little to high for what they were. Still, it was nice to see so many in different booths.
At midday, the lovely arrived at the fields with lunch, and after a delightful nosh, she joined us walking the fields on the hunt.
The find of the first day, was quite exciting. A 15 piece bar set martini shaker in the shape of a Zeppelin, and nicely marked for James Deakin & Son, and it includes the corkscrew.
Of course, part of the joy that is Brimfield, is seeing the myriad of offerings brought to the show by the thousands of dealers.
That evening, we again enjoyed a meal together with a little showing and telling about our purchases of the day.
On day two, we had another early morning, and hit the fields that were opening that day. Not much in the first field for me, but a few bits. And, then whilst waiting for the next field to open, I happened upon a booth that an interesting figural. I have seen simiarly designed corkscrew–not with this particular figure–but the piece is unmarked (if anyone knows the maker, timeframe, origins of this, please drop me a line at josef@vintagecorkscrews.com )
As it came time for the field to open, Tommy and I messaged back and forth, so we wouldn’t be heading in the same direction. And, yet, within moments we were approaching the same booth.
We opted again, to head opposite directions and actually headed in opposite directions.
A little of this, a little of that, lots of amusing offerings by the dealers in the field, and my find of the day was a Gorham signed sterling tusk direct pull with faceted shank–a handsome piece and it wasn’t expensive!
Once again, the lovely joined us for lunch, and the three of us headed off to the last field of the day, which WAS PACKED, with both dealers and buyers. At times, it was actually difficult to move.
Tommy came away with these two fantastic ANRI nutcrackers, which certainly were a terrific find. And, I picked up a few bits, and then found these unusual figural dove corkscrews–signed ArTek. Not horribly old, but a nice price at 10 dollars a piece.
With that field exhausted, we all decided to head to The Duck for glass (well, it WAS going to be A glass) of wine.
This was followed by another evening in the sunporch, followed by dinner, and much conviviality.
On Thursday, the morning was a little bit easier, as May’s field opens at 9:00, still with Tommy needing to hit the road back home, and Sue and I needing to the same, we all scurried about following the checkout instructions at our respective airbnbs.
Tommy and I hit the field, with a few minutes to spare before opening, as even with just a 4 mile drive, Brimfield was teeming with people already.
Once inside the field, I went right, and Tommy went left, as is often the case, and we would each hit the other side of the field later. Along the way, I picked up a couple of corkscrews, passed on two bar screws, and ran into a few friends.
The lovely bride, opted to go for a long walk while we first hit the field, and then joined us about an hour later. We meandered back and forth, asking for corkscrews, finding a couple more, and then making the decision that we need to start the trek back to Maine.
A fantastic few days of walking through the offerings of thousands of dealers, enjoying the warmth of sun, and spending time with one another.
On March 22, of this year, I shared a bit of research from the Toolman, Bob Roger. And, what he shared was information about a variant of the Noyes patent.
Always interesting to learn that there are variants of patents out there, and as fortune would have it, TC just discovered the same corkscrew yesterday on his drive towards Brimfield.
Marked with the patent dates of “PAT JUNE 27 05 JULY 3 06,” it is a really need variation for TC’s collection.
And, one that I would love to find too!
Nice grab TC., and we will see you in a few hours!
It’s Sunday morning, and in a couple of hours the lovely lovely personal trainer and I will start heading south towards Brimfield.
The show doesn’t start until Tuesday at daybreak, but we will be doing a little shopping on our way down, and will be all set up in our cabin when Tommy rolls in tomorrow afternoon.
Word from the fields is that Brimfield is back to pre-COVID numbers of dealers, and on social media, there has been quite the buzz about who was bringing what, with lots of firsttimers asking questions about where to find this or that, and what should I bring with me…
And, for those that have never been, but choose to make the trek to the show, my advice kind of goes like this:
Prepare to walk. A. Lot.
Hydrate… with water, although there is a beer truck at the food court and a Winery/Cidery/Brewery at Brimfield Auction Acres.
(And, most likely some Sauvignon Blanc chilling in a cooler in our car)
Go slow. Walk. Peruse. Search. Ask.
Persistance. If you don’t find the thing in the first field, or the second, or the third…or, the first day, ot the second, keep hunting.
Have fun.
I will report back here with tales from the show, and with any finds that are found.
While the Williamson Flash corkscrew isn’t really a rare thing, it is a fun thing to collect, and you can read about them in an article that Tommy and worked on a decade ago for The Bottle Scrue Times:
This would be a duplicate of the one that I already have, although this one is in pretty fabulous condition–as if it just came out of the factory.
And, of course, there was a correct guess that came from TC! And, for that reason, Tommy is getting a special corkscrew prize upon his arrival at Brimfield next week.
So… the other day, I managed to find an interesting corkscrew online, and after a little back and forth, a deal was made. And, it was agreed upon that said package would be mailed the following day.
A couple of days later, I was sent an image of a package, with my address written upon it.
And, the day after that I was given a USPS tracking number.
So, the package is INDEED on it’s way. And, I would anticipate the agreed upon corkscrew is going to be inside the package when it arrives.
But, let’s play a game. What corkscrew YOU think would be inside…
A couple of hints:
It is American.
It is a patent.
It is in the front of O’Leary.
So, what is your guess? What’s in the package? You can respond to this post, or email me at josef@vintagecorkscrews.com .
I will list your guesses each day until the package arrives! And, if someone guesses right, there will be a corkscrew heading your way.
josef@vintagecorkscrews.com corkscrewing around 