The Virtual Corkscrew Museum's Weekly Newspaper

Den Gamla Korkskruven

Left: Marked ESKILSTUNA
Right: Marked SOUVENIR

The August 26, 2009 issue featured the Den Gamla Korkskruven (The Old Corkscrew) song. Here are the lyrics in Swedish followed by an English translation (thank you Lars Hagen, Marlin Thompson , and Kristian Staum).

Swedish

Du gamla hederliga grej av eskilstunastal
nu hanger du pa spiken som museiföremal
som en unik och konstifik mojäng från länge sen
betraktar vi idag den gamla korkskruven.

Alia så vet vi att du alltid vart vriden
men inte är du lika vriden som tiden
som kan värdera sig till inte ett nickel
en gång vår allra största nyttoartikel.

Halvklädda gubbar va dom som snusdosa sakna
men utan korkskruv var dom nära på narkna
drog i dom de gjorde dom så att gängorna rakna
mest aktuell var dom en lördagskväll.

Du gamla hederliga grej med skaft av masurbjörk
blev belt och hållet värdelös när ölet kom på burk
som en unik och konstifik mojäng från länge sen
betraktar vi idag den gamla korkskruven.

Allra första sprickan i dina kalkyler
var när pilsnerdrickan fick plåt och kapsyler
sen kom katastrofen och den stora kvasten
tacka vet jag ljushuvet som uppfann plasten.

Du som en gång va hedersgösten på festen
och för dej va gubbarna fjäska forresten
så pass så att du fick en särskild ficka i vasten
det du kära skruv var en tid så ljuv.

Du gamla hederliga grej vi aidrig glömma skall
när mjukt vi borra ner dig och när korkarna sen small
som en unik och konstifik mojäng från länge sen
betraktar vi idag den gamla korkskruven.

English

You old honorable thing of Eskilstuna steel
now you are hanging on a nail as useless wood.
Like a unique and odd relic from Hinge,
we are today observing the old corkscrew.

Alia said we know that you always have been twisted,
but you are not as twisted as time
that teaches us a nickel
once was the greatest useful thing.

Half-dressed men they were, who their snuff box missed
but were never without a corkscrew.
Almost naked they went out
nearly every Saturday night.

You old honorable thing with a shaft of master birch
became totally worthless when the beer came in cans, then you became an antique.
Like a unique and odd relic from Hinge,
we are today observing the old corkscrew.

The biggest crack in your chronicles
was when the pilsner beer started coming in metal capsules.
Then came the catastrophe and the biggest change.
Thank you for the bright head who invented plastic. Vers 4:

You who once was the guest of honor at the party
and for you the men fawned so much that you got a certain pocket
in the vest where you resided.
It was a delightful time.

You old honorable thing, we will never forget
when we drilled you down and the corks would come out and go pop.
Like a unique and odd relic from Hinge,
we are today observing the old corkscrew.

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Flying Corks

Editor's note: A widely distributed news article from September 5, 2009.

WAMSUTTER, Wyo. — Battling an intensely hot fire after a semitrailer crashed on Interstate 80, emergency crews were surprised to find themselves suddenly fired upon — by corks from exploding wine bottles inside.

"The corks were popping out of the bottles like the old Jiffy Pop we grew up with," Wyoming Highway Patrol Lt. Scott Keane said. "My trooper got hit in the arm with one."

The fire Thursday was so intense it burned the trailer down to its axles, melted the tires and damaged about 75 feet of pavement.

Besides the heat and flying corks, firefighters also had to deal with shattering bottles.

But Keane says no one was injured, and the truck driver, Cyndy Brown of Arkansas, escaped the fire. Keane says the wreck likely was caused by a locked brake or hub malfunction.

Theresa Herbin, public relations specialist for the Wyoming Department of Transportation, said the wines — various bottles of merlot, pinot noir, reisling and sparkling wine from Washington and Oregon — have retail value of $20 to $50 each. The total value of the loss was not available.

"There's nothing left of the cab or trailer," Herbin said. "There were a few bottles that didn't explode," but they vanished overnight.

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Corkscrew Cactus

On a recent visit to the Botanic Garden in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,
Lis and Jens Arnbjerg found this cactus with corkscrew form.

Corkscrew Cactus photographed in the American West

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Marilyn's Garden Revisited

In the May 11, 2008 issue you will find a photo of Marilyn MacLean's Red Tailed Helix. Now a new visitor to her garden eats French bugs.

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