childlike enthusiasm (trust me it will make sense soon)

I felt this way yesterday. I will explain why tomorrow! : )

a great weekend

The lovely bride and I flew into Chattanooga on Friday, and while she went spa-ing for a couple of hours, I met up with a bunch of CCCC’ers. Austrian Keys were sold to Wayne, and we all chatted about corkscrews, corkscrews, and some more corkscrews.

It was great to meet some collectors with whom I had only previously exchanged emails, phone calls, and corkscrews. As well as reconnect with old friends.

The next morning was the sale, followed by the meeting, and then the auction. Dinner was also fantastic highlighted by a duck boat tour, and a walk through the Chattanooga aquarium (some pictures are below).

I didn’t do much buying at the buy and sell or the auction. But, I did pick up a couple of syrocos and a gucci corkscrew.

The weekend was topped off with a visit to John and Martha Morris’ cabin which was filled, and I do mean filled, with a fantastic collection of corkscrews. American patents were everywhere (as were countless other corkscrews) and it was a wonderful way to end a great weekend.

Trades were proposed, plans were made, and the corkscrewiness will continue soon as the ICCA meeting starts on Wednesday!

the coffee is brewing

3:45 AM, and the coffee is still brewing.

see you all in TN in a few hours!

for those unable to make it to the AGM, I will provide pictures (and corkscrew news) on Monday

barnes arrives!

The lovely and I leave in the morning for Chattanooga, so I had hoped that the Barnes Double helix that I picked up at a recent auction would arrive in time for our departure. And, it arrived moments ago.

I placed a bid on this piece, having never seen it. So, I had really hoped it was as described, and that the two helices were intact. And, they are. And, it is even marked, albeit faintly, with PA 27 76. Somewhere along the way, it lost it’s "T JUNE." The other one I have is marked PAT. JUNE 27.76.

The longer helix is tipped slightly, but not bad at all. The shorter helix is sharp and all there. This will make for some good tradebait for some CCCC’er (or ICCA’er).

On another corkscrewy note. I got a phone call from Mark this morning (who is currently driving towards Chattanooga). He was lamenting his 10 +hour drive, until he happened on an antique mall. "I found something…" he said. He didn’t have O’Leary’s book with him, but as soon as he started to describe it, I knew the very piece. He had emailed a picture from his phone, and that left no doubt. He found an 1867 McGill corkscrew, marked PATENT!

the BINNERS are back!

A corkscrew was listed yesterday, and it would seem those asking for a Buy it Now have come out in full force. Here are some of the questions posed and answered on the listing:

Question & Answer

Q: For your information this corkscrew is incomplete. There is some missing parts which permit to raise the cork from the bottle. Regards


A: I have been told this by other Ebayers and have added there comments to the auction. Appraently the "lifter" is missing?

Q: Hi there, the corkscrew is missing the winding handle which fits the hole. I have one here & would love to repair it. How about a buy it now for $200

A: Sorry I will not end the auction early. Please just bid. Good luck!

Q: cool…can you add a buy it now option? Thanks


A: Sorry I will not end it early. Please just bid. Thanks and good luck!

Q: its missing a piece… still how bout a buy it now. I have a broken one with the missing ratchet

A: Sorry I will not end the auction early. Please just bid. Thanks!

An interesting piece, that is indeed missing some parts…. I wonder where it will end up? It is pictured below.

the waiting is the hardest part…

While Tom Petty’s song continues to play in my head, I have still yet to receive the latest double helix barnes patent corkscrew. I had hoped for it to arrive in time for our Chattanooga trip, as it would (will) make for some nice trade bait. We can hope that Phil-the-mail-carrier shows up with it before Thursday, but thus far there has been nothing.

On another note, these guys (pictured below) were walking across campus the other day. You would think with fall in the air, and Thanksgiving two months away, that they might want to go into hiding.

back from Rhinebeck

Rhinebeck was fabulous! No corkscrews, but we did have a fantastic time at a special event at the Culinary Institute of America.

We meandered the backroads all the way home, and did a little antiquing. While nothing was purchased, we did get some advice on an area where there are some to be found! And, we will make a trip out there after we return from Williamsburg.

Meanwhile, it is back to dissertating…!

off to Rhinebeck for a couple of days

The lovely and I are heading to Rhinebeck, NY for the weekend. Hopefully a corkscrew or two will turn up along the way (or along the way back).

breaking news (imagine the da da Da duh in the background)

In Montreal today, Trudeau–maker of the Trulever corkscrew–successfully defended its intellectual property rights case (actually 4 cases) for their corkscrew….

It would be more fun to report on some great find, but nothing new has happened over the last couple of days!

BARNES ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

I was perusing the net for antique corkscrews last week, and ran across an auction for 75 corkscrews in a collection. I emailed the auction house to get more information, and they sent me the cell phone of the owner of the items.

With the photo online showing only a few, and many obscured, the conversation lasted a half hour or so, as we went through what was in the box. The picture online, did show the very top of what looked to be a Barnes corkscrew. I asked if it might have two helixes, and he confirmed that it did!

I emailed (and called) the auctioneers to leave a absentee bid, but was told that the corkscrews would be sold individually. I amended by absentee bid for just the double helix.

And!…. I just got off the phone with the auctioneer. I won!

I still have yet to see the condition of the helixes, but the seller said they looked pretty good. So the Barnes will be heading to 16 Kingston! And, just in time for a for the upcoming AGM! Looks like we have a good piece of tradebait!

The photo of the auction lot is below!!!!!!!!