Oddities

Below you will find some of the more unusual pieces in our collection.

This is by far the most unusual and also one of the rarest corkscrews in our collection. This is a 19th century prosthetic arm made from steel and leather which includes a corkscrew, fork, hook, & wooden hand with a spring loaded thumb.

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A 19th Century Belgian percussion knife pistol, the 10.5cm octagonal steel barrel with Liege proof mark, mother of pearl scales with diapered decoration, a folding knife blade, hook and a corkscrew which forms the trigger.

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At first glance you may be wondering how this item is a corkscrew until you notice the small wire ring atop the cork. While the small wire corkscrew which came with this item isn't unique, the medicine bottle itself is very interesting.  When you read the ingredients you will see that this medicine is made of alcohol, chloroform, and opium. Years ago screw caps hadn't been invented and everything from medicine bottles to beer used corks.

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This small item marked U-NEEK is aptly named as it is, in my opinion, the most unique non-worm cork extractor. To use, place the item atop a wine bottle and insert the 3 pins into the cork, then twist the item until the cork is removed from the bottle.

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Those who are not corkscrew collectors probably wouldn't recognize this item as a corkscrew. While this item would usually be referred to as a cork puller or non-worm cork extractor, its purpose is the same; to remove the cork from a wine bottle. This is the T shaped variant of Eugene Adrien Mestre's French Patent No. 99986 granted October 14, 1874. To remove a cork, slide the curved end down the side of the cork then twist to grip the bottom of the cork while still in the bottle.

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This is a Sterling silver roundlet corkscrew in the shape of a cigar. With no markings, this corkscrew is somewhat of a mystery. May have been custom made by a jeweler or silversmith and given as a gift to the cigar aficionado who also enjoys wine.