This morning, I had an appointment in Portland, Maine and was supposed to meet up with a colleague at 8:15, before we headed to another locale where a meeting was to take place.
And, given the distance between Rockland and Portland (about an hour and forty-five minutes), I left a few minutes after 6…
Being September, there are still a fair amount of tourists around, so there can be some traffic.
So, I am meandering down the coastal route one, when it occurs to me that it is Wednesday. And, Wednesday is the antiques day at Montsweag Flea Market.
I couldn’t speed up, as there are cars in front of me, so I figured when I got close, I would check the arrival time on my iPhone, and make a decision on whether there was enough time to wander around, or maybe I could come back on the ride back up to Rockland later in the day.
As I crested the hill, I could see all of the vendors setting up, and given that I was about 10 minutes a head of schedule, I probably had enough time to make a quick walk through and hope that there is a corkscrew (or two) worth buying amongst the various wares.
As I pulled in the lot, there was a space right up front, which would also allow for a quick getaway.
I pulled in, and scampered off.
Making my way up one aisle — no corkscrews.
Then circling up and back down the other side — no corkscrews.
On the opposite side of the field — no corkscrews.
And, I am running out of time…
Then, as I was walking by one table that was still setting up, a corkscrew was soon within my reach.
Me: “How much for the corkscrew?”
Dealer: “$ 20.00”
Me: “Do you have any others?”
Dealer: “A brass key, and the corkscrew goes in it, but I don’t know where it is.”
Me: “No worries,” handing the dealer a $20.00, bill and hustling back to the truck with my new found treasure.
Back on the road, according to my iPhone, I was going to be rolling in right on time, but I would be cutting it close.
But, apparently through the magic of iPhone/GPS mileage v. time on the road, I pulled in 2 minutes early.
One corkscrew in the field to be had, in those early hours of dealers setting up. But, the early bird did get the worm!
And, it’s a Frary!
Frary’s Self-Extracting Corkscrew to be exact!
Now, I am pretty sure this is a double (or a triple), but how fun to find a Frary corkscrew on a few minute detour from your appointed rounds!
made from a large tin-opener key. A small piece of metal , the same thickness as the key, is riveted loosely to the lower end of of the key so that it can be turned easily, and both are ground down to a point as shown. In use the small piece is set in line with the key as shown on the right, and the key is pushed down through the cork. By tapping the key lightly the small piece falls to a position at right angles to the key and it is then an easy matter to the pull the cork out.
josef@vintagecorkscrews.com corkscrewing around 