Catching up a bit…

I recognize that it has been a few days since we last talked…

Or, that I last wrote, and you last read, so I figured we should catch up a bit.

The lovely bride and I have been hopping back and forth from the island to the mainland a bit.  First to spend a few days with friends for the Thanksgiving holiday–we supplied the wine, oysters, and lobster, they took care of the Turkey…

and also to do some construction projects on our house in Rockland–the latest was replacing a supporting beam / header in the stairway–if you were taller than 5’9″ descending the stairs would inevitably result in a bump on the head, or alternatively knocking yourself out, should you not duck.

In the 1880’s, when the house was built, the builder must have been a bit shorter than average.

So, I put in a post to support the floor above, cut away the old joist, and installed a new one a few inches back.  This allows for a little headroom, and reduces the risk of concussion whilst traipsing up and down the stairs–unless you are over 6’6″.

After ensuring that we were properly supported, we started framing in a new bathroom on the second floor.  I met with a plumber yesterday, and tomorrow I head back over to put in a couple more walls.  By the weekend, it should be pretty much ready for the rough-in.

Meanwhile, while we are not on the mainland, we are on the island with normal day to day activities; Sue teaching exercise classes and me running the wine shop.  And, of course there is a bit of corkscrewing going on.

No fantastically rare finds as of late, but I have picked up a couple of interesting pieces here and there.

One a Marwood registered corkscrew, and the other a Nogent Chrome knife with folding corkscrew.  Neither are American, so they are destined to be traded, but both were fairly priced.

Also, we have registered for both the 2019 ICCA and CCCC meetings in Lofoten, Norway and Stratford upon Avon, England

We are super excited for our next adventure, and today we will start booking out hotels.

And, this morning, I am editing a few submissions for the upcoming issue of The Bottle Scrue Times.  A fun issue to put together, as this one (largely) focuses upon the Maine Annual General Meeting.

Of course, as we close out November and look to December, we have one month left of the corkscrew collecting fiscal year, and choosing a best 6 for 2018 will soon begin.  What will yours be?

Stay tuned…

 

“Everybody’s Corkscrew”

From an 1880’s issue of: The Canadian Patent Office Record and Mechanics’ Magazine

Cheap Corkscrew

A Cheap Corkscrew –A novel corkscrew has been introduced by Messrs. Nettlefolds, the well-known screw and wire manufacturers of Birmingham, which is well deserving the attention of the retail trade. As it will be seen from our engraving, it is made of twisted wire, ingeniously fastened so as to afford all the strength and convenience necessary in the drawing of corks. The form of the screw is of the simplest character, and there is nothing in the implement itself that can get out of order, for the twist is so pitched that the downward pressure or turn of the screw actually increases the power of the corkscrew. It is obviously designed for “the million,” and since the article is sold retail for a penny, it will probably soon become what we venture to designate it.—”Everybody’s Corkscrew.”

A few acquisitions…

Over the weekend, the latest collectorcorkscrews.com auction took place, and lots of corkscrews changed hands.  A few bidding wars broke out, and there were a few that made their way into our collection.

The lot with the most bids, and actually the high dollar lot in the auction, was a lovely Japanned Thomason.  And, it is NOT headed to Romania

I had a few up for auction, and sold several.  And, as per usual, I bought one or two; a Sterling medicine spoon

(I have several of these, but the medicine spoon / dosage cup corkscrews are a growing part of the collection).  If you have any extra Zeilin patent corkscrews laying around, I would happily add them to the collection, in particular this one:

The other corkscrew I picked up is the large version of the Walker.  I have long wanted one of these, and this will actually be headed to the wine shop for display.

There were many others in the auction that I would love to add to the collection, but they made their way elsewhere.

And, while you were all bidding, I had an email exchange with a collector who had an interesting prong puller in their collection.

It looks like a Converse, but I gather it is a little bit later.  Still, given the amount of advertising Converse cork pullers in our collection, it will make a nice fit.

Have any of you ever had a Gopher Gulch cork puller?  From researching Gopher Gulch, I would gather this is a 50’s – 70’s piece…  Still, pretty cool!

It is making it’s way from the west coast as we speak, and I will add better pictures when it arrives.

 

 

The One!

As the year is winding down, and we begin to consider our best 6 corkscrews of the year, the question that comes to mind is, “what is the find of the year?”

What is that one corkscrew that, not only will make the best 6 for the year, but what is the one find that is THE FIND!

As for me, I am in a quandary, is the Silver Syroco Knight the find of the year, or is the Van Zandt patent cork pull the find of the year?

Because the Knight is a variation in color (albeit a rare thing), I would leans towards the Van Zandt.

But, what about you.  What is your best corkscrew find of the year?

Email me at josef@vintagecorkscrews.com , and I will publish your best find here.

 

Berkeley House Corkscrew

The other day, the odd figural bellhop shaped corkscrew with ruby rhinestone eyes was listed on eBay with a relatively fair buy it now price.  I thought about it for a bit, but given I have never seen another one, I figured I would go for it.

The reverse is marked A Berkeley House Exclusive, Crafted in Italy.

In doing research into the company, while no corkscrews turn up, lots of housewares do, and mostly from the 50’s – 70’s.

Do any of you have a Berkeley House corkscrew?  Drop me a line!

Let the Bidding Begin!

The latest collectorcorkscrews.com auction is open for bidding!

1002 corkscrew lots!  You can check them out here!

Bidding wars!   Treasures to be had!

Let the bidding begin!

Bid high and bid often!