I know, I just posted about Day Two this morning, but we just left the meeting a little while ago, and we have an early early morning tomorrow, as we had back to Maine.
Today, we headed over to Marvin’s house, and what a collection of breweriana and adverting he has. A feast for the eyes, every where you looked. There were a couple of things available for sale, and the lovely and I picked up an original piece of artwork that I will blog about at a later date.
Following the house visit, we headed over to the JFO meeting space, and the buying and selling continued. At the auction, and through various deals here and there, there were some interesting additons to my box of corkscrews to be going back to Maine.
With the auction coming to a close, a few last deals were made, and one final purchase resulted in the acquisition of another 1914 Blantz patent cork extractor.
Farewells, hugs, handshakes, and see you next years were all exchanged, and while the show will continue for the next couple of days, we will be off in the wee hours of the morning on an adventure back to Maine.
Thanks to all that attended, but a special thanks to John and Pat Stanley for having hosted us all over the years!
(If there are any finds along the way, we will report back here).
Following breakfast and a requisite mimosa, Tommy and I hit the road for a couple of antique stores 30 or so minutes away from where we are staying.
The drive was filled with corkscrew conversations, and in short order we pulled into the first antique mall. And, it was huge!
So, I ventured right, and TC ventured left, and after scouring the entire place, he came away with a small bag of knives without corkscrews, and I left empty handed.
There were a couple of corkscrews to be had, but they were either rather common, or too pricey.
With mall #1 scoured, we headed to mall #2. Same as before, I went right, TC went left, and as much of the spaces were empty, we walked out with nothing.
Then, it was on to mall #3; same. Except, towards the back of the mall, after seeing a couple of Cloughs, and a English brassy, there was a Woodward tool in pretty nice shape, and a flared frame DRGM marked Columbus. Nothing to write home about (although I am writing about it), but both with low prices, and I did purchase both.
With our appointed rounds complete, it was time to head to the JFO meeting.
Getting to the meeting space, corksrews and openers were again set up, and we each made the rounds, to see if anything new had put out for sale. And, of course, for the seventh time, I rifled through all of Tommy’s corkscrews, and picked up a patented can opener, and from TWJ’s boxes, a Mumford.
And, as often is the case, as more JFOers arrive, there is fresh merchandise put out, and at one table there was the smaller (not patented) Walker peg and worm for 10 dollars, and I grabbed that.
Then it was back to manning my table, talking corkscrews, talking openers, and just engaging in conversation.
At some point, I decided to make another round of meandering the room, and on a table just sitting there, looking like they didn’t care, were two corkscrews. I grabbed the one of them and inquired about the price.
As it was a very fair deal, I paid up, and headed across the room to share my purchase with TC–who has had terrific show with attendees picking up box after box of advertising Clough sheath corkscrews, and looking at every one for their hometown, home state, or something that relates to themselves, their friends, their extended families.
This person is buying 30 or them. This person is buying 25. This person is buying 8. And, each methodically went through the four large boxes of Cloughs.
With the lovely having been at the condo we had rented cooking dinner, at our appointed time, we needed to depart the meeting, and just before we did, TWJ came down with a couple of corkscrews that he hadn’t showed yet.
One was a can opener, with a neckstand, and I liked the look of it. From the Joe Young collection, Joe identified it as the Sowers patent of 1917 (#1,213,034). In looking at the patent drawing, there are some slight similarities, but with no markings, I will dig around to see if I can’t find a reference for it for clarification. That said, a trade was made, and it will be coming home with me.
With the new finds in hand, we headed back to the condo for a fabulous evening of food, wine, conversation, and wine.
This morning, there is to be a visit to a local collector’s home to view his collection, then it is back to the meeting where there surely will be lots more openers, corkscrews, and conversation.
Stay tuned. You just never know what might turn up next.
Yesterday, the lovely and I had a nice walk in the area, followed by venturing out to day one of the JFO. And, the usual suspects were there, and it was good to visit with old friends.
Lots of corkscrews around the room, with the bulk of them being on Tommy’s table.
Or, rather, TABLES, as the corkscrews he brought literally were in boxes that ran the entire length of the room, and they were in shallow boxes, which meant there were layers of corkscrews!!!
I set a few up myself…
and then went about digging through what TC had brought with him.
The first deal of the day was for a small Clough that I had been hunting for some time.
14 years ago, I found an interesting Clough that serves as an applicator for “shoe dressing.”
The corkscrew, is of course, a corkscrew that probably wouldn’t have helped much with the cork, given the size of it, and the opposite end was to serve as the applicator of the shoe dressing on one’s shoes.
That example (circa 1883, according to Ron’s book) I believe ended up in JM’s collection, and being able to find another example (not as in good of shape) was still a nice addition to the collection
A bought a few others, and sold a few as well. And, with more JFOers set to arrive over the next couple of days, more corkscrews and openers will surely be changing hands.
This morning, TC and I are venturing out to a couple of antique malls some 40 miles away, and we will see what turns up.
Yesterday, we started the morning with a walk around Pittsburgh, grabbing a requisite second cup of coffee at Starbucks, and after packing up, started the drive towards Miamisburg.
Of course, given we live on an island 14 miles out to sea, we seized the opportunity to do a little retail therapy, before really hitting the road.
Then it was drive time. And, drove we did (well, the lovely did). I navigated. And, yet again, it was a drive that would go from sunshine to deluge, sunshine to pouring rain.
And, with about 40 miles to go, there it was, this ginourmous antique mall on the side of the road.
Three of them actually. But, with plans to host TC at our AirBnB for dinner, we opted to keep going. And, we made it just about a half hour before Tommy was due to arrive.
So we chilled down some wine, and I unloaded the Bronco, and the Sue started prepping for dinner.
In short order, Tommy arrived, we shared toast, and then began a show and tell of what we each had brought with us; several that were available for sale; several that we just wanted to share with one another.
There were a couple that changed hands.
And, by the end of the evening, we made plans that on one of the upcoming mornings, Tommy and I would make the drive to the aforementioned antique malls, and see what we might unearth.
Of course, the night was filled with laughter, wine, and good food.
The big deal of the night was for the large version of the Zeilin dosage cup with corkscrew; a nice addition to the collection, and there was lots of talk of trades of this for that, or this for those.
A great night, and who knows what will happen today, as the JFO opens for business at noon.
A few years ago, I blogged about a folding buttonhook, that came into my possession that was a bit of a mystery, but after digging around, I found the patent, and of course shared that bit of informationhere:
Knowing that TWJ has a thing for button hooks, I brought it to the JFO last year, and we made a trade.
Yesterday, I picked up another example, and while it is indeed the 1880 patent, once again it has a buttonhook rather than a corkscrew. Not that I know if a corkscrew version exists, but the patentee does mention the possibility of a corkscrew being attached instead of the buttonhook,
The blog included this section of the McDonald patent description, which explains:
This invention relates to improvements on the patent for finger-nail cutters granted to Richard W. Stewart on the 22d day of May, 1877, No. 190,989; and it consists of a spring handle made in two separate parts that are held rigidly together at one end and capable of a lateral expansion at the opposite end, by which arrangement I am enabled to secure a folding tool in each handle—as, for instance, a finger-nail cutter and cleaner in one end, similar to the one shown in Stewart’s patent above referred to, and a button – hook, corkscrew, or other suitable pocket – tool in the other end
Still, no corkscrew.
On a side note, if you look at the patent drawing there is a d d’ and d”. These represent the d buttonhook (or corkscrew if it had one) d’ a notch in the frame, and d”a little protrusion on the buttonhook (which, we really really wish was a corkscrew) that allows d the buttonhook (did I mention, I wish it was a corkscrew) to lock into place for use.
That said, if anyone of you have a folding nail file with a patent date of 1880 that includes a folding corkscrew, I would love to add it to the collection!
A couple of days ago, I was doing sort of random eBay search, and an interesting lot of openers turned up. Nothing truly rare amongst them, but there did look go be a Detroit corkscrew in the lot.
With no description of any markings on the Detroit, I checked each photo and then zoomed in.
Interesting, Briscoe Mfg., Co., Auto Parts Detroit, Mich…
Knowing that I don’t have a Briscoe Mfg Detroit, and since it was pretty cheap, I snapped it up, and then headed off to Google who exactly was Briscoe Mfg.
And, from one search that lead to Briscoe Mfg., and an advertisement that makes mention of their patented products, the story suddenly got a lot more interesting(er).
Taking a step back, on the rare-ish Puddefoot corkscrew with the straight neck stand, the example I have is marked for the “COMPLIMENTS OF THE PUDDEFOOT SHEET METAL WORKS OF DETROIT, M.”
I know, you are asking yourself, where are you going with this Josef?
Puddefoot, was quite the inventor and was awarded multiple patents.
In 1902, he was awarded a patent for a Closure. In 1903, he was awarded patents for a Can Forming and Seaming Machine and a Corrugating Machine.
All three of which were assigned to none other than Briscoe Mfg. of Detroit.
And, clearly the relationship continued as in 1904 our sheet metal man was awarded another patent for a Pail.
This time, the patent was awarded to both Puddefoot and Briscoe.
Adding a different advertising on a Davis / Detroit / Puddefoot, is always a cool thing. Finding the connection between the advertiser and the producers of that corkscrew, just makes for an interesting story.
Do you have a corkscrew advertising Puddefoot Sheet Metal? If you do, drop me a line.
The removal of a cork from a bottle into which it has driven, is often a work of some difficulty. The implement shown in the annexed engraving, is designed to meet this difficulty. It is the invention of C. Rosenberry of Chicago, Ill. It consists of a wire grapple, made of four wires twisted together to form a handle, leaving four ends projecting and hooked to seize the cork. The hooks are made to engage the cork, by sliding a ring with a wire handle which slides through the ring of the handle of the grapple. When in taking out the cork, the grapple meets the neck of the bottle, the latter holds it firmly to its work.
We have often, in the laboratory, felt the need of such an instrument as this, when waiting time endeavoring to ensnare a cork with a string. Corks, at such times, seem endowed with an amount of sagacity which enables them to elude a noose almost as surely as a Sixth Ward rough in New York. Had such an implement as this been within our reach, we have no doubt we should have been saved many a trial to a temper not the best adapted to withstand severe strains.
A novel combination tool has been patented by Mr. Harry U. Kistner, of Bordentown, N. J. This implement is one of those useful articles which almost every person has occasion to use very often. The same handle accommodates a number of tools, among which are a cork screw, gimlet, skate sharpener, etc.
Interesting. I wonder what that might look like. With a quick Google Patent search… We have Kistner’s Combination Tool.
Well, the fold out corkscrew would be reason enough to add it to the collection! Do you have an 1883 Kistner Combination Tool?
Four-in-one bar accessory gadget that any mix-master will receive with open arms. This handy gadget crushes ice right iin the glass, breaks ice in a bowl, and has cork screw and bottle opener attachments. Gift packaged.
W&L—Gadget Shop, 1st Floor, Housewares, 1st Floor, North Building….also Chevy Chase and Alexandria
josef@vintagecorkscrews.com corkscrewing around 