Vise-O-Lift II

Okay, I will preface this by saying, I haven’t uncovered any further information than other reported previously on the Elters patent Vise-O-Lift.

…but I have uncovered another Vise-O-Lift.

In digging around, I did find that W.S. Elters was the owner of the Gem City Sheet Tin Shop of Dayton, Ohio, which later became the Gem City Sheet Metal Co., of the same city, but little else has turned up thus far.

The hunt will continue!

PIX CHAMPAGNE TAP AND INSTRUCTIONS

As mentioned the other day, I picked up this Albert Pick “Pix” champagne tap that came with the original instructions.

It arrived yesterday, and after reading through the instructions several times, and then aloud to the lovely personal personal trainer, where we had a good laugh over the instructions for use, the lovely remarked, “oh, I am thinking there is a blog entry here.”

Indeed…

Please retrieve an ice pick or nail (and perhaps a hammer), awl, a mixing spoon, piece of wire, a bottle of champagne, and your PIX EXCLUSIVE CHAMPAGNE TAP and play along.

You might need a bar towel as well.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Follow these simple directions and this tap will give lifetime service

First — Punch metal cap over cork with ice pick or nail.

(I am thinking that taking an ice pick, and ramming it through the metal cap of a champagne cork might lead to a few issues…keep that bar towel handy for the impending blood letting)

Second — Use gimlet to bore hole through cork.

Third — Push handle of plain mixing spoon through cork to remove particles of cork.

(Now, maybe I am missing something here, but if you have a effervescent bubbly, and you just drilled a hole in the cork, wouldn’t the champagne come spraying out through the hole?  And, while the champagne is spraying out, you are supposed to insert a handle of a spoon into the hole?  Again, the bar towel would come handy here, as now you are sopping up the champagne that has left the bottle through the recently added hole.)

Fourth — Insert Tap.

(Okay…hole sealed…now we are move forward).

Should tap become clogged remove screw in bottom and run fine wire through the hole at the top.

To serve champagne at its best put ice in the glass before serving champagne.

ALBERT PICK CO., INC.

2159 PERSHING ROAD

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

Needless to say, I haven’t tried the Albert Pick tap in the manner as described, but it is very cool looking piece, and I have found a reference to the tap in a 1935 issue of Hotel Monthly, so we can somewhat date it.

If I find any other information on it, I will report back here.

Stay Tuned

 

 

 

PIX EXCLUSIVE CHAMPAGNE TAP

As you may have noticed, I haven’t blogged in a while.

As it happened, the lovely personal personal trainer and I headed off to California for a few days to visit the wine country.

There was much wine tasting!!!  And, a bit of wine drinking as well!!!

It was a fabulous time, and we did manage to do a  little antiquing as well, but alas no antique corkscrews were found worth buying–well, except for the Frary Gundlach that adorns the walls of Gundlach Bundschu.

Of course, that one wasn’t for sale.

A fantastic getaway, and now we are back home…

Meanwhile, after a little perusing of our second favorite auction site, I managed to find this lovely little tap.

PIX EXCLUSIVE CHAMPAGNE TAP, from the Albert Pick Co., Chicago.

Anyone have any history or background on this  one?

A cool little tap that is enroute to the island.

So… is that a Perille Coffee Grinder?

Earlier this week, on a non-eBay auction site, a group of barware was listed, and there were a few corkscrews amongst the other items

Okay so there is a Walker, some bakelite handled thing, and is that a Perille Coffee Grinder handle that I see?

There were a few additional photos, and it pretty much looks like it very well could be a Perille.  The helix has an odd bend to it, but still…

It looks the Perille with a wooden handle rather than a bone handle.  I brightened the photos and looked again.

And, suddenly you can see the little ball end of the Perille handle that tops the corkscrew.

I placed a bid, and figured, “why not take a chance.”

I got an email yesterday, and it seems, apparently, I won!

If anyone needs a Walker, a bakelite handled corkscrew, or a bunch of flamingo swizzle sticks, let me know.  I have extras.

 

From a 1908 issue of The Tobacco Leaf

A bit more on the A.W. Stephens patent…

How many times we men find ourselves without the proper means to perforate the end of a cigar and perforce have to bite the same ! This difficulty, we are glad to say has been lessened considerably by a little combination cork-screw and cigar perforator which the A.W. Stephens Manufacturing Co., Waltham, Mass., have just introduced to the trade. The article consists of a wooden cover in which is inserted a durable wire cork-screw. The sharp end of the cork-screw comes through a tiny hole in the one end of the sheath and allows any man to insert his cigar therein and perforate the end of it. This cork-screw and cigar perforator is a handy little advertising novelty in…sheath permits…advertisement.

I apologize for the ellipses,  but the end of the paragraph from Tobacco Leaf has gone missing, or more accurately, is obscured by the Digitized by Google logo.

If any of you have an A.W. Stephens patent corkscrew with cigar perforator, drop me a line!