Frary Page Updated

The Frary Corkscrew page has been updated with the latest Frary-ation. You can see it here

a few more arrivals!

As mentioned yesterday, I have been waiting for a few corkscrews to arrive. Some of these have been acquired in trade, and one (several actually) in a non-ebay auction.

The first is the Giant Williamson, which after a little attention, suddenly is free from surface rust. A nice addition to the collection.

Another arrival, is the Frary corkscrew with henshall type button and grabbing teeth. I will add this to the Frary page soon!

And, finally–these have yet to arrive, but I was fortunate enough to win an auction lot through an online auction house (not ebay) yesterday. The photo is rather fuzzy, but you can make out a fancy handled Walker corkscrew in the lot. And, upon contacting the auctioneer to confirm my win, he explained that they found another corkscrew that they threw into the lot.

What will the mystery corkscrew be? Oh, the mind simply races!!!

awaiting the delivery of corkscrews

I am still waiting for various corkscrews to arrive at the post office box. However, one did make it today.

Big Bell

There is a little surface rust, but hopefully when this big belled Williamson arrives in the next couple of days, it will clean up nicely.

I really needed one of these, as you never know when you will run into a large format bottle of wine that needs opening!

around the next corner was right!

So, no sooner did I hit publish on the blog, when I took a quick glance at eBay before making a second pot of coffee.

And, what is there but a Curley with a buy it now! An OBIN (Original Buy it Now), meaning it didn’t look like someone asked the seller to add it. Well, I started to look at the pictures, but decided that I better jump on it.

You never know who else is online you know : )

After snapping it up, I looked more closely, and it looks pretty good. It is marked with the patent information

But it might be missing the endcaps on the handle. Or, maybe it never had them to begin with.

Still, a nice little corkscrew deal!

Done Deal and more bricks!

Well, after a couple of extra emails, the deal for the Frary has been done. And, soon enough a corkscrew from Germany will be heading back to Germany, and a Frary will be heading back to the US (with an additional corkscrew).

Both parties have added to their collections!

Today, I start clearing an area around the new house, and then I will begin to dismantle the chimney in preparation for a new one to be built. And, we have a rough of the new floor plan as well. And, so it goes. Chimney, roof, demolition of the first floor kitchen and bath, and then the re-building begins.

In between tasks however, we have Brimfield, the CCCC AGM, ICCA AGM, and various other exciting adventures. And, you never know what corkscrew trade/acquisition/deal will be around the next corner.

could it be another Frary heading to the collection

While I was in Brimfield in July, I received an email from a collector overseas who explained that while they lived in the states, they had picked up some nice American corkscrews. Somehow, word had gotten out to them about my current lust for Frary corkscrews, and they sent a picture of the one they had.

I was quick to make a trade offer, but to no avail. However, as fortune would have it, I have picked up a couple of the very items said Fray-emailer was looking for.

So, now, a trade has been proposed, and I will think about whether it will happen. I mean, I would love to add another Frary to the collection–as it currently stands at 13 (4 of these being doubles). And, it is different. It is very similar to the squashed handle Frary with the henshall-type button.

What makes it more insteresting however, is that instead of the normal plus sign edge, it has two little hook like protrusions that would assist in grabbing the cork.

I am inclined to make the deal, but further discussions will ensure over the next few hours. If the deal does get done, and the aforementioned Frary does become part of the collection, I will update you all here (and on the Frary page).

Erhardt!

last week, I had managed to pick up a corkscrew 4 some on eBay. And, one of the 4 looked to be an early Erhardt patent.

well, the grouping arrived a couple of days ago, and indeed what looked to be an Erhardt, was definitely an Erhardt–with wooden ball handle and all. While, it isn’t marked, the mechanism works perfectly (after a little w-dog-40).

Also amongst the 4 was a rather ordinary looking folding bow–until you looked at the markings. Not a rarity, but a nicely marked Robert Jones & Sons Makers / Birmingham.

The RJ & Sons will probably hit eBay, as I already have one. As for the Erhardt, we shall see what trade offers it brings : )

scratch a couple off the wishlist

I should say that there are lots and lots of corkscrews on my wishlist. But, as of today the wishlist got two corkscrews shorter.

After some lengthy negotiations, two American patented corkscrews are heading to the island.

Both have been on my wishlist for some time and they will be great additions to the collection. Will they make the best 6 of the year? We shall see, as there are still two months to go in the fiscal corkscrew calendar…

Whether they make the list or not, the Tucker and Griswold are on their way!

corkscrews in Union!

The antiques show in Union was a great time. 6 of us met up, and strolled the grounds, and I did pick up one or two odds and ends. Nothing really impressive however. Then, I ran into a formerly grumpy antiques dealer, with whom I had a run in or two, who happened to have a Sperry in his possession.

For some reason, his grumpiness had since been alleviated, however what he lacked in grumpiness he made up for in pricey-ness. The price tag on the Sperry was 4200.00!!!! Needless to say the Sperry remains with the less grumpy dealer.

As I retraced my steps through a couple of aisles seeing if I had missed anything, a voice from behind a table said… "Hey, I have one of those for you over here."

Apparently, he knew that I collected corkscrews.

I sauntered over, and he pulled out a corkscrew with a 25 dollar price tag. By the time, it reached my hand, the price had dropped to 20 dollars, and at first glance, I knew I would buy it.

As I left his little area, I looked closely at the wooden handle. And, the 20 dollar price, became an even better deal as I reached the next booth.

The handle, was marked with a patent date. PAT. MAY 27, 1862.

For those of you that recognize the date, that would be Chinnock’s patent! And, a lovely example it is!

A nice little piece to find at an antiques show. However, this happens to be a double, if anyone wants to offer an appropriate trade : )