“simple and powerful implement for extracting corks…”

From the September 4th, 1869 issue of Scientific American

Improved Cork Extractor.

Our engraving shows a simple and powerful implement for extracting corks from bottles, patented Jan. 14, 1868, by James Morton, of Philadelphia. It consists of three bars pivoted together, which, together with the corkscrew, constitute the entire apparatus. One of the bars has a socket or cap at its lower end, which is placed on and around the neck of the bottle. Near the upper end of this first post or bar is pivoted the end of the second bar, near the middle of which the third bar is pivoted. The second and third bars have handles at their outer ends, and at the inner end of their third bar is a hook.

This hook engages with the corkscrew in the manner delineated in the engraving, and by forcing the handles together or pressing them downward, the cork can be easily extracted. The instrument is equally adapted to extracting corks on which rings or hooks are already formed so that no corkscrew is needed.

For further particulars address James Morton, 912 South Eighth street, Philadelphia, Pa

BALLET-CORKSEREWS

 

I will preface this by saying, if you are going to hire an engraver, you might want to be sure that they know how to spell.

Just sayin’

The Manufacture of Ballet-Corkscrews corkscrew arrived the other day, and while there are a couple of hairlines to the celluloid, the corkscrew is pretty fantastic.

Although, in looking closely (really closely) at the writing across the advertising plates it looks as if the piece is marked CORKSEREWS rather than CORKSCREWS.

Now, clearly they had a C nearby, as CORKSEREWS starts with a C, and MANUFACTURE also has a C.

And, as they got to the end of the plate, knowing that were trying to make CORKSCREW (or more aptly CORKSEREW) plural, but were running out of room, the S is a bit smaller, but they still made if fit.

Even with the replacing the C with an E, the corkscrew is pretty darn awesome, and has the potential of making the best 6 of the year.

I have yet to clean the shank of the helix up yet, but it does look to have a maker’s mark. I will report back here once I figure that one out.

More corkscrew news as it happens.  Stay tuned!

manufacture of ballet corkscrews

Yesterday afternoon, for a moment, I decided to hop on to eBay, and how fortuitous it was that I did.

A pair of ladies legs had been put up for sale with a pretty fair opening bid.

Still, it was a normal pair at first glance, so I simply put it on my watch list.

And, then I went back to the listing to check for cracks, missing celluloid, size, markings etc.

It looks to have one crack at the knee.

The second photo that came up revealed that this was not your average ladies legs corkscrew.

On one side, it was normal black and white/cream stripes, on the reverse were advertising plates like the Old Elk Whiskey – Always Pure pair of legs that I picked up last year:

On the plates on this particular pair, the advertising was not for Old Elk Whiskey, instead across the two plates it reads: “MANUFACTURE OF BALLET-CORKSCREWS”

How cool is that?

A legs corkscrew advertising legs corkscrews!

Did I mention it also had a fair Buy it Now price?

I clicked.

I paid.

And, the MANUFACTURE OF BALLET-CORKSCREWS legs are on their way to Vinalhaven.

A really cool piece, that could make the best 6 of the year.

Better photos after they arrive!

Steinwender & Sellner

A couple of weeks ago, I found a non-ebay online auction lot, that I found pretty interesting.  And, over the following days, I would go back and see how the bidding was going.

After registering for the auction, I placed a bid, and went back to business at hand.

At the end of the first week, I was the high bidder, and actually the only bidder.  As we got closer to the auction close, a few more bids were placed, but I was still in the lead.

My initial bid was not particularly high, but obviously higher than others that had also seen the auction.

With about 8 hours until the auction close, and knowing that there were 8 other bids, I went back to the auction lot, and upped my bid quite a bit, hoping to ensure that the lot would indeed be heading to Vinalhaven.

Last night the auction ended, and this morning I got the confirmation email.  I had indeed won.  And, the additional higher bid wasn’t necessary, the lot ended at a whopping $27.50 and with a 10% auctioneer’s fee, just over 30 bucks.

The auction lot, was billed as “Metal cork screw, “Steinwerder & Sellner”, St. Louis”

And, the metal corkscrew?

It is a Brangs patent, and it carries advertising, not for Steinwerder & Sellner of St Louis, but for Steinwender & Sellner of St. Louis

And, who is Steinwender and Sellner?

That would be Gustav A. Steinwender and Christian Albert Sellner; wine, beer, and liquor importers and dealers in St. Louis

 

 

Steinwender and Sellner, was established in 1863, and the ads above date to 1891 and appeared in the St. Louis Dispatch.

Of course, the Brangs is the Jules Brangs’ French Patent Number 122,704 of April 23, 1878, which is a hard to find piece.  But, with the additional advertising, it is pretty darn cool.

I will add pictures, sans the Cory Craig, Auctioneer watermark, when it arrives in a few days.

A really neat little corkscrew that I have tried to acquire several times to no avail.

Best 6?  It certainly will be in contention!

 

 

Napier Hollweg arrives…

The 8 dollar buy it now lot arrived yesterday, and I was quite pleased that the Napier Hollweg had a nice sharp helix.  The images from the auction didn’t show the tip, and at such a smokin’ deal, I didn’t take the time to inquire about the condition of the piece.

Marked PAT APPLIED FOR on the end hanging ring, and NAPIER STERLING on one of the hinges, it is pretty darn cool.

And, with a little silver polish, is suddenly got pretty shiny!

A handsome corkscrew, that is a nice addition to the collection.

Van Zandt Re-Vizited

While the deal for the Van Zandt patented cork pull was struck last week, the agreed upon price and subsequent payment needed to be completed through the U.S. Postal Service with a USPS Postal Order.  And, with holidays and Sundays, and then the lovely and I heading off  for a get away, the Van Zandt didn’t make it into my hands until yesterday.

Opening up the package, and looking at the piece, I am beyond pleased.  The mechanism works just as Van Zandt describes in his patent description, and oddly enough, functions very much like the Call’s Ideal that made my best 6 for last year.

I haven’t tried to clean the piece up (yet) but as mentioned the other day, this should make the best 6, and perhaps the best cork puller / corkscrew

of the year.

I have done a bit of research into Van Zandt, and have yet to unearth anything other than the patent.  The hunt will continue, as will the hunt for antique corkscrews.

Stay tuned!

 

Best 1 of 6 of 2018…

It is early in the year, and there is much hunting and collecting to take place, but over the last couple of days a deal was struck for a cork puller that easily will make the best six of 2018.

If over the next 12 months, I manage to find 6 pieces that are rarer, and it doesn’t make the list, well…that would be a good problem to have.

As mentioned in the past, I spend lots of time looking at O’Leary’s tome on American patented corkscrews.  And, while I haven’t memorized every patent drawing in the back of his book, there are some that I indeed have.   Still, only going by a patent drawing isn’t really enough.  From drawing to manufacture things can change.  So, it really really really helps, when suddenly you are presented with a previously yet discovered cork puller that is clearly marked with a patent date.

The question of who?, what? when?,  is that really what it was intended for?, is answered pretty quickly with a quick  glance in the back of O’Leary.  This, of course, is often followed by visit to google patents.

Now, this very well may exist within another collector’s collection, but given it isn’t in O’Leary (at least the front) and given that it has yet to appear in any of the patent updates, I will say “new discovery.”   If it has been previously found, I will happily say, “it is a rare thing.”

“So, what did you find Josef?”  You are asking yourself

Ladies and gentleman, I present to you, the 1867 James D. Van Zandt patent for an Improved Cork Pull.

Marked “PATENT JULY 30, 1867,” within short order, I found the patent drawing on page 181 of O’Leary.

 

And, after checking on Google Patents, found even more…

Van Zandt’s patent description explains:

“The operation is as follows:  The cork-drawer being in the position indicated in Fig. I, it is forced down into the centre of the cork until the swing-bar has been pushed beyond the bottom of the cork, when, on drawing up the cork-drawer, the friction of the cork on the sliding prong d causes it to descend, b which the swing-bar is placed in a right-angled position to the prongs, and the cork follows the instrument as it is drawn out of the bottle.  The cork being drawn, it is easily disengaged from the prongs by sliding back the prong d by means of the thumb-piee and drawing it off, when the cork-drawer is again ready for use.”

The Improved Cork Pull will arrive in a couple of days, and I will add better pictures when it does.   Definitely a Best 6 candidate!  And, a fantastic addition to the collection.

In the meantime, the lovely and I are heading to Vermont for a quick getaway tomorrow… could the best 2 or 3 of 6 of 2018 be found in our adventures?

Stay tuned…

 

Wishlist for 2018

There are actually a lot of things that are on my wishlist for 2018: peace, understanding, love, good health, etc., but there are also a few corkscrews that I would like to add to the collection.

Over the last couple of years, I have published the corkscrew wishlist, with hopes that someone might say, “Hey, I have one of those.  Let’s make a deal.”

Here are the wish lists from a few previous years.  And, given that we publish our best sixes each year, I have limited it to six each year…

2014:

1. Trunk Patent
2. Folding Hicks & Reynolds
3. Frary with Can Opener handle
4. Jenner Patent
5. Philos Blake (how can we have a dog named Philos, and not have the corkscrew)
6. Sperry Patent

I did end up acquiring both the Trunk and the folding Hicks and Reynolds in 2014, and so the wishlist was updated with a few others that I would love to add to the collection.

2015:

1. Frary Sullivan Bar Screw
2. A new discovery from the Back of O’Leary
3. Frary with Can Opener Handle
4. Jenner Patent
5. Philos Blake Patent
6. Sperry Patent

But remained the same in 2016

2016:

1. Frary Sullivan Bar Screw
2. A new discovery from the Back of O’Leary
3. Frary with Can Opener Handle
4. Jenner Patent
5. Philos Blake Patent
6. Sperry Patent

And, while there were new discoveries from the back of O’Leary, and few that didn’t appear in O’Leary, the Frary Sullivan, Frary with can opener, Jenner, Philos Blake, and the Sperry remain illusive.

So… they are still on the list.  Yes, the list from 2017, and now the wish list for 2018!

2018 Wishlist:

1. Frary Sullivan Bar Screw
2. A new discovery from the Back of O’Leary
3. Frary with Can Opener Handle
4. Jenner Patent
5. Philos Blake Patent
6. Sperry Patent

But, what corkscrews are on your wish list?  What corkscrews do you most hope to find this year?

Feel free to respond with what you really want to add to your collection this year (email me if you are so inclined)

And, I will gladly post them on the bloggy blog, and perhaps someone will respond to your list with: “Hey, I have one of those. Let’s make a deal.”

 

 

From a 1903 DUNHAM, CARRIGAN & HAYDEN CO. catalog

From an 1903 DUNHAM, CARRIGAN, & HAYDEN CO. catalog:

The two corkscrews illustrated up top, are both Frary Corkscrews.  Interestingly, what DUNHAM, CARRIGAN, & HAYDEN CO. are calling the No. 240, wasn’t illustrated within 1889 copy of The Iron Age: A Review of the Hardware, Iron and Metal Trades, which was where Kenneth Cope found the images that identified the corkscrews as made by Frary in his book Kitchen Collectibles; this same issue of Iron Age became the basis of my article Finding Frary, which you can link to here.

There are some collectors that have asked me, was the non-hammer-non-ice-pick Frary a production item, or was it that their hammer and spike had gone missing.

Well, this clearly answers the question!  A production corkscrew, that cost 25% less than the Ice Pick and Breaker Version!

No. 240—5 inch, Self Drawing, Revolving Bell, Convex Twist, Cast Steel, Fancy Iron Handle, Full Nickel Plated .. Per Doz $6 00

241—5 inch, Same as above, with Ice Pick and Breaker …………………………. $8 00

Dozen per box

“having dose cups with each bottle”

From the February 3, 1889 issue of PHARMACEUTICAL RECORD

H. Zeilin & Co., Philadelphia, call attention in an announcement recently made to Professor Parrish’s preparations, and especially Parrish’s Compound Syrup of Phosphates. Chemists who have had experience in the manufacture of Compound of Phosphates are aware that it is almost impossible to make it perfect and prevent deposit, fermenting and change, but J. H. Zeilin & Co., having purchased the private formulas of Parrish’s specialties, take especial pains to make the preparations worthy of the name of the distinguished chemist.  The articles are referred to as put up in a very attractive style, having dose cups with each bottle, rendering them very desirable articles to handle.  The following at the prices of the different preparations, terms cash 30 days:

                                                                                    Per doz.

Compound Syrup of Phosphates………………………..    $7.50

Glycerole of Hypophosphites……………………………     7.50

Syrup of Phosphites…………….…………………………..     7.50

Compound Syrup of Hypophosphites, with Iron….. 7.50

Syrup of Phosphate of Iron……………….………………….7.50

Syrup of Lacto-Phosphate of Iron………………..……….7.50

Bitter Wine of Iron………………………………………………7.50

Propylamin Cordial……………………….…………………..11.25

Wine of Pepsin…………………………………………………….7.50

Solution of Meconate of Morphia…………………………5.63

Elixir of Calisays……………………………………..…………..7.50

Elixir of Valerianate of Ammonia…………….………….5.63

Cephalic Snuff…………….………………………………………1.87

Dragees of Santonine…………….………………………..….1.87

Liquid Rennet…………….………………………………………1.87

We have owned several versions of the Zeilin patent in Sterling — these come in various sizes; embossed or plain.  There are also versions that have a medicine dial.

And, we have a glass and metal version.

 

But, it is within the pages of Fred O’Leary that there is Zeilin Dosage cup carrying the patent date, and also serving as an advertisement for one of the Hypophosphites listed above

On page 63 of O’Leary amongst the others, this version of the Zeilin is picture and described as being marked, “ONE TEASPOONFULL PARRISHS HYPOPHOSPHITES, J.H. ZEILIN & CO. PHILA, PA”

The 1889 article says “having dose cups with each bottle.”  Was it Zeilin’s patent that was included within each box with each bottle?  What do you think?  And, if there was, why haven’t more turned up?

Do any of you have an all metal (non Sterling) Zeilin Patent dosage cup with patent date and advertising?

I would happily trade for it if you do.  Drop me a line.