In the July 31, issue of Wine Spectator

In the July 31st issue, there is a two page spread on the history of corkscrews and a bit about collecting and the collectorcorkscrews.com auction.

You may want to pick up an issue!

Another Old Elk…

After reading yesterday’s blog, Don Bull sent in a photo of another Old Elk Whiskey corkscrew.

Check it out!

Any other Old Elk Whisky corkscrews out there?  Send in your photos!

Old Elk Whiskey – Always Pure

The lovely personal personal trainer and I headed off island over the weekend for a trip Down East.  For those of you not from Maine, which I gather is everyone that will read this, to go down east from where we live, you actually go north.

Down East which now is used to describe the geographical area of northern coastal Maine and the Canadian maritime provinces, stems from nautical terminology referring to wind direction, rather than physical location. In warmer months, the prevailing winds along that area of the coast blow from the southwest.  Ships then would sail downwind, to travel east; hence down east.

Not that really has anything to do with corkscrews, but what the heck.

So, we got off the boat, and headed north.

We skipped the Big Chicken Barn, but did hit the Trash or Treasure Barn.  No corkscrews were found, but we did see a few pieces of furniture that might work in the house.  And, we did hit a few more antique stores along the way.  Similarly, no corkscrews were found.

This was our first trip this far up the coast, and as we meandered north, we both enjoyed the bold rocky coastline.

Eventually we got to our hotel; which is also, conveniently, a pub.  Located in Lubec, Maine it is the easternmost town in the U.S.  So, we ate at the Easternmost restaurant, visited the Easternmost gift shop, toured the Easternmost museum, and had several pints at the Easternmost brewery in the U.S.   I will add here, that not every establishment advertises themselves this way, but several do.  Not that there are a lot of establishments in Lubec.  It is a fairly sleepy little town even this time of year, but that will change in the coming weeks as Summer travelers visit the seaside town.

With Lubec being our homeport for a few days, we visited the Quoddy light house, East Port, and also Campobello (Canada is across the bridge from Lubec).  A word of advice in driving through Campobello…slow down for the turtles…

All in all a really fun trip.  We got to see an area of Maine that one could easily fall in love with, a bit of antiquing (no corkscrews were found), some good food and wine (and beer), and some stunning scenery.

For those of you in the ICCA, we are hosting the meetings in Maine in 2018.  With those extra days that you might be spending, a trip down east (which includes Acadia and Bar Harbor) is definitely worth experiencing.

Okay Josef, so what does this have to do with corkscrews???

Nothing really, but it was a pretty fabulous weekend.

And, in between all of this fabulous-ity, I managed to pick up an interesting pair of ladies legs online.

On one side, it would seem, more or less common as they are pink and white striped legs.

On the reverse side, however, there are two advertising plates mounted across the celluloid which carry advertising for OLD ELK WHISKEY ALWAYS PURE.

The Old Elk Bottle pictured above is courtesy of the Lexington Historical Museum and they date the bottle to 1895, so it is pretty much the very bottle that these particular legs might have been used upon.

An interesting pair of legs…and a great weekend.

 

 

 

midway

Well, I just looked at the calendar and realized two things.  One, I have been remiss in blogging.  And, two…we are pretty much midway through the corkscrew-collecting-year, and I need to buy/find more corkscrews!

It has already been a pretty good (half) year for corkscrew hunting already, and with Summer travels, corkscrew meetings, two more visits to Brimfield, and other wine related adventures, you never know what might turn up.

Tonight we are having a wine tasting at the shop, but tomorrow we begin a boat/road trip up the coast of Maine towards (and possibly into) Canada.  There certainly will be some antiquing along the way.

Still, at this halfway/midway point, I started to consider some of the better finds that have been made so far, and wonder if these will ultimately make the best 6 of the year.

While there have been many corkscrews already, here are the potential candidates…

 

The Voigt Brewing Davis

Spaulding Gorham Prongs

Ivory Handled H & B

Unusual (unmarked) cork extractor

General Appliance wall mount

Yes, I know that is only five…

I did pick up an interesting Thomason the other day with a really unusual fluted/ribbed barrel.  Unfortunately, it had a replacement handle–a poor choice at that…and similarly unfortunate, a marked Guinot worm.

I am still working on a more appropriate repair job, but I have no doubt this will find its way into another collector’s collection.

It could very well be that over the course of the coming months, corkscrews are found that knock all of the aforementioned five off the list.

At least we can hope!

Stay tuned…

 

 

JFO handbook listings…

As mentioned yesterday, the Voigt Brewing Davis is a new discovery.  But, given that I have quite a few Davis/Detroit and Puddefoot/Detroit corkscrews with advertising, brewery and otherwise, I decided to revisit the JFO handbook listings to what other advertising was out there.

And, it looks like there is some more hunting to do… (the ones in bold, I do already have…)

According to the Just for Openers Handbook, here are the variations of brewery advertising (this does not include non-brewery advertisements) that appear on the Davis Detroit Corkscrew, Davis Detroit Corkscrew with Knife, and Puddefoot Detroit Corkscrew:

Davis/Detroit Corkscrew (P-002, in JFO speak)

COMPLIMENTS OF GERKE BREWING CO. CINCINNATI

COMPLIMENTS OF THE GREENWAY BREWING CO.

COMPLIMENTS OF THE GREENWAY BREW’G CO. SYRACUSE, N. Y.

LOCK CITY BREWING CO.

COMPLIMENTS MINNEAPOLIS BREWING CO. MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. “GILT EDGE”

COMPLIMENTS OF MINNEAPOLIS BREWING CO “EXPORT WEINER”

COMPLIMENTS OF MINNEAPOLIS BREWING CO “GILT EDGE”  

COMPLIMENTS OF PABST BREWING CO. MILWAUKEE

COMPLIMENTS OF JOS. SCHLITZ BREWING CO.  

THE VOIGT BREWERY LTD. DETROIT, MICH. U. S. A. “EXPORT RHINEGOLD”

THE VOIGT BREWERY LTD. DETROIT, MICH. U.S.A. “DRINK RHINEGOLD” (will soon be added to the handbook).

VOIGT BREWERY CO. LTD. DETROIT, MICH. U.S.A

VOIGT (V IN TRIANGLE AND CIRCLE) DETROIT  

Davis/Detroit Corkscrew with Knife (P-185, in JFO speak).

COMPLIMENTS OF PABST BREWING CO. MILWAUKEE.  

Puddefoot/Detroit Corkscrew (P-70, in JFO speak).

COMPLIMENTS OF GREENWAY BREW’G CO. SYRACUSE, N. Y.

COMPLIMENTS MINNEAPOLIS BREWING CO. MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. “GILT EDGE”

Of course, going through the handbook listings, gives one pause.  There are two different versions of the Greenway Brewing Davis, two variations of the Minneapolis Gilt Edge Davis, and four variations of the Voigt Davis!

With the variations in advertising, you might want to check your Davis corkscrews to see if you have one that isn’t on the list.

Want to access the handbook, and other Just For Openers information?  Click here!

Rhinegold v. Rheingold

A few years ago, there was a Davis / Detroit corkscrew with advertising listed on eBay.  And, I went after it.  The advertising read: THE VOIGT BREWERY LTD. DETROIT, MICH. U. S. A.,  “EXPORT RHINEGOLD.”

At the time, there were two other variations of the Voigt Brewing Davis known.  One that reads, VOIGT BREWING CO. LTD. DETROIT, MICH. U.S.A., the other with VOIGT (V IN TRIANGLE AND CIRCLE) DETROIT.

So, I went for it.

I tossed out a healthy bid, only to watch that bid get doubled up (and then some) as the piece when into the multiple hundreds of dollars.  Apparently, it was the first known example of this marking.

Yesterday, a similar Davis was put up for sale on eBay, but this time with a pretty healthy buy it now.

That said, the Buy It Now price was healthy for the seller, mind you…not for the buyer.

I saw the listing.  I thought about it (for all of about 10 seconds) and clicked.

It was far less than the one that sold in 2014, after all.  And, it will make a nice addition to the Detroit Cork Screw collection…

I will add here, that this is slightly different than the one from a few yeas ago, as the Davis doesn’t read “EXPORT RHINEGOLD,” it reads “DRINK RHINEGOLD.”  I have contacted TWJ about this, to confirm.

Beyond the fact that it is a hard to find piece, it is that much more interesting as Voigt didn’t produce Rhinegold.  They produced Rheingold…

After a bit of digging, I found the following in the Detroit Free Press from 1905…

Edward W. Voigt

President and Treasurer Voigt Brewing Co.

The brewing business today is among our greatest and most important in industries, and its is a natural consequence that some of our brainiest and ablest men are identified with it.  Mr. E. W. Voigt, head of the Voigt Brewery Company, is notable example of these enterprising men.

Mr. Voigt has been in the brewing business in this city since 1866, having succeeded his father as manager of the firm that he is with at present.  His business success is probably due to his ability and constant desire to utilize modern methods and appliance in his business.  It is a well-known fact that he has originated a number of ideas which have materially assisted the progress of the brewers’ art.

Mr. Voigt is well and favorably known in German social circles and has achieved he confidence and respect from his business associates.  The Free Press takes pleasure in presenting a portrait of him in this issue.

The Voigt Brewing Davis/Detroit will be added to the website in the coming days.   Of course, I don’t have the other Voigt advertising corkscrews, and would happily trade for those as well.    Do you have one?

And, while I am at it, while there is no relation to Voigt, there is a  “LOCK CITY BREWING CO.” Davis out there somewhere, that I am also hunting for.

UPDATE:  This just in from Tipped Worm Johnny!  It IS different than the previously found example.  A new discovery!  Thanks for the info TWJ!

Ladies Legs Corkscrews… One dollar and ten cents each…

Also, from the 1913 Shapleigh Hardware Company catalog…

BALLET Per Dozen

No. 537—Bright Forged Steel Screw,

Length 2 5/8 inches; Folding Handle,

Pocket Knife Style; Steel Springs;

German Silver Lined; Assorted

Blue and White and Red and

White Celluloid Handles with

German Silver tips; Length

Folded 2 5/8 inches: Weight per

Dozen 1 1/2 lbs           $ 13.20

One Dozen in Box