The 26th annual meeting of the International Corkscrew Addicts (ICCA) was held in Pennsylvania Sept. 3 - 9. Our hotel was in Philadelphia, home of the Liberty Bell. Our welcome package included the Liberty Bell corkscrew on the left stamped "ICCA 1999". ...and what a pleasant surprise it was when I returned home to find another bell in my mailbox! The bell serves as a sheath for the worm. Now I have a bell corkscrew collection. |
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On Sunday we were bused to Adamstown. Our first stop was the Black Angus. With 20+ corkscrew collectors descending on the same place at the same time, could anyone find something to treasure? I made only one purchase and it was within 10 minutes of arrival. This is a 4" knife depicting a beer maid dancing on a keg. I recognized her from a postcard in my collection which says "The original oil painting from which this picture was produced measures 8 ft. x 5 1/2 ft. and was exhibited by the Blatz Brewing Co. at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893." The knife was made by Hugo Köller in Solingen, Germany. The reverse reads "Hopfen und Malz Gotterhaft's" |
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After lunch, we moved on to the Greenwood Antique Center where I found this embossed zippered pouch containing several tools which snap into the knife handle. The knife was made by Utica Cutlery Company, Utica, New York. The cork puller (attached to handle in photo) is William Vallandingham's 1908 American patent. |
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Knife marked GIRL GUIDES REG. NO. 494338 on the handle (England 1907) and W. MOUNT & SON SHEFFIELD on the blades. The Girl Guides organization was founded by Sir Robert Baden-Powell in England. In 1912 Juliette Low started the first Girl Guides groups in America. This was the forerunner to the Girl Scouts. |
A knife with shell extractor and button / glove hook. Unusual because is has champagne advertising on it "Champagne Pommery & Greno." Can you imagine some skeet shooters, extracting their shells with this and then popping a cork on a bottle of champagne to celebrate their shoot? |
Before the Philadelphia meeting, I was missing one Syroco corkscrew in my collection. Now I have the Golden Knight. For more on Syroco click here. |
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On a rainy day the group was bused to Lambertville, New Jersey for more corkscrew hunting there and across the river in New Hope, Pennsylvania. Running into antique shops between raindrops yielded no corkscrews for me. A lunch at Mother's was a welcome break from the weather and after lunch, we stopped in the Cheese Shop next door. Amongst the new chrome waiters' friends, prong pullers, and Screwpulls, I found this new corkscrew from China. The grape design barrel is topped off by a vine with leaves. Not too bad for $11.95. |
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That's it. That's all I got. But we had a grand time. Oh, yes...I completed a couple of trades at the meeting. See Luterman Trade III and Morris Trade. |
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