Alf's Best Corkscrews of 1994
THESE are my most interesting corkscrew acquisitions of 1994. You can also view a larger, higher resolution (180Kb) copy of this photograph.
- This is a Thomas Lund's bottle grip. It was patented with number 7,761 in 1838. On one outer side of the frame there is stamped LUND MAKER CORNHILL. On the opposite outer side of the frame there is stamped AND FLEET ST LONDON. Stamped on the collar just below the handle are the words LUND'S PATENT LONDON RACK. The worm is a helix.
- The large (2 1/2 pounds, 8 inches long and 2 1/2 inches thick) multi-tooled "penknife" has Stag horn covered sides attached by cut steel (faceted) nuts. Many of the tools, as well as the inside of the casing, have finely cut decorations. The most important tool, the corkscrew, is double hinged with a helical worm. The other tools range from hole punch through magnifying glass, button hook, knife blades, file, larding needle, spike, screwdriver, fish de-scaler, and stiletto to the unknown. Many of the tools are stamped at the very base with the maker's name: BUCKSTONE. The name is stamped as an arch with the initial G inside the arch. From the style of the corkscrew, the item appears to be from about 1790-1800.
- This is an interesting ratchet assisted corkscrew. The helix is screwed into the cork with a series of half turns of the handle. Unlike a simple corkscrew, where the hand must release its grip after each half turn, the six tooth ratchet allows the hand to return to the starting position without releasing the grip. Marked on the rectangular shank is PROV. PAT. I have never seen anything like this before.
- This corkscrew with a centre cut worm is The Goliath. The two long lever-arms are held together by a hinged bar and the entire item is made of steel. On one side of the hinged bar there is stamped GOLIATH; the other side is stamped D.R.G.M. 172253. This is the 1906 German "version of the machine that Georg Hausmann of Cassel, Germany, patented in England in 1903 (Patent No. 24,234). Note that the English one has the definite article "THE" before the word "GOLIATH".
- This all steel eyebrow handle corkscrew with a deep cut centre worm has MAUD'S stamped into the shaft on one side. PATENT is stamped into the reverse side of the shaft. It is from William Robert Maud's English patent number 10,211 of 1895. Above the worm it has a disk that is fitted with three pins that enter the top of the cork as the worm passes through it. This allows the cork to be twisted from its seated position before pulling.
- 1 finally got a Royal Club! It is one of two versions of Charles Hull's patent of 1864. It is almost all steel and it sports a helix that is raised by a single side lever that works against a brass wheel that is fixed to the top of the open frame. The purchase arm below the neck ring has an oval brass tablet with a Royal Coat of Arms above the wording C. Hull PATENTEE BIRMINGHAM ROYAL CLUB CORKSCREW.
