Letter to the Editor Christmas Shopping in Austria I refer to the article in Sunday's edition. I believe that Watcharee's Thai high tech corkscrew did not work - but the idea to combine a spiral with a center needle is excellent . You see here a European quality product - made in Austria - which was the souvenir gift at the annual meeting of the VKF - the German corkscrew collectors club - held a month ago in the Taunus near Frankfort. Hans Turler, Seillans, France Available from: http://www.leopold-vienna.com
Hans, We took a close-up view of the worm / needles of both corkscrews. The Austrian corkscrew is on the left and the Thai corkscrew is on the right. The similarity is uncanny. Is it possible that two people came up with the same idea at the same time? The Austrian example appears to be made in three pieces with the worm and needle secured to the shank by pins. The Thai design is all one piece with the shaft split at the top of the needle and the worm wrapped around it. Editor

---

Letter to the Editor

Christmas Shopping with Coupons

I thought you might be interested in the 1932 -1933 Good as Gold Catalog which offered merchandise for redemption of coupons of United Profit-Sharing Corp. (44 West 18th Street, New York, NY). The coupons were available through purchase of common items such as coffee, tea, flour, salt, soap, etc. Page 20 of the catalog shows a Nifty corkscrew redeemable for 15 coupons and a Can Opener with Corkscrew for 25 coupons.

Kenn Cameron, Massachusetts

Editor's Response

Kenn,

We grew up with Green Stamps and Gold Bond Gift Stamps. United Profit-Sharing coupons were before our time and we were intrigued by your find. You aroused our curiosity so we went in search of some of those old coupons to find out what it would take for corkscrew redemption. Here are some of our finds:

"Honey, Now I can get that new corkscrew I've wanted!"

"But, but, I need a new toaster."

Trade?

I have this lovely Thomason Corkscrew, it's a beauty. It has an undamaged handle, a lovely Lion & Unicorn patent tablet, a perfect helix with an excellent tip. I would like to trade it for: a carved Florida alligator - horn or stag direct pull, a McBride champagne cork shaped direct pull Corkscrew (not the champagne tap), a steel perpetual & a Green Ross Pig. If anyone wants to trade, please let me know.

Email: Peter Borrett

News Index