ADELAIDE CORKSCREWS Nov 2011

Ian Hunter ihunter@mail.com

I live in Sydney, so it is not surprising that these horn handled straight pulls with a wire breaking spike figure heavily in my collection .Don Bull (p168) notes that they are most common in Australia and New Zealand and this is also apparent from Ebay auctions. For reasons still unclear to me they were marketed from about 1870 until 1915 as “Adelaide” corkscrews.

The first I knew of Adelaide corkscrews was in the late 1990's when I came across a reference to Adelaides in Don Bull's online corkscrew museum (Ron McLean's Q&A section). This started me looking for different names and other variations and added interest to my local corkscrew hunting.

In 2006 I attended my first CCCC meeting, which Nick Hunt organized in Sydney. There I met Derek and Louise Binney I was pleased to learn they lived close to me in Sydney and that Derek was fascinated by Adelaides. Derek had a personal project to catalogue all the known variations and I undertook to help. He collated his collection on a spreadsheet with different maker's names,worms,spikes, handles etc. I then added mine and we were on our way, before Derek's sudden death in 2008.

I was still keen on the project and Louise was happy to let me review and photograph Derek's collection. While most spiked horns are not particularly rare or valuable, Derek had picked up some of the more interesting ones. I then found that Bill Jarema in Melbourne has a liking for Adelaides and had collected , or had records of, some named Adelaides I hadn't seen.

This note is largely just a description and collation of our 3 collections. Other scattered sources I have found useful are :

1) Don Bull's Ultimate book which at p168 shows 12 different named examples .

2)Frank and Barbara Ellis' book of British registrations which includes some great information on four registered designs and some of the makers with extracts from some trade catalogues.

Their later book “Corkscrews” (“Ellis book 2”). has some additional information (p160-1)

3)Fletcher Wallis, British Corkscrew Patents from 1795 which has 2 Adelaides with patented cap lifters (p273-4)

4) Screwbase which has 14 entries I have chosen to classify as Adelaides.(CBb010, CBl130 and 131, CBx 120,121,130,131,132,133,136,138 ,139, 216 and 231)

5) “Trademarks on Base Metal Tableware” by Eileen Woodhead which can be googled ( or search “trademarks” at www.sha.org the website of the Society for Historical Archeology

6)Corkscrews in Thurungian Trade Catalogues by Reinhold Berndt which has a surprising number of German examples

7) A page from an old Catalogue of unknown origin. From Bill Jarema's Ebay records. (Figure 1

below). See “Adelaide“,partly obscured, in the top right corner

8) Ron McLean Q& A: www.bullworks.net/virtual/infopages/adelaide.htm

9) Googling “Adelaide corkscrews” throws up some references to shipping news advertisements from 1870-1915 typically advising of a new shipment from England to some Australian or New Zealand port which included “Adelaide corkscrews”

10) trove.nla.gov.au the online search tool of the National Library of Australia (90 references to “Adelaide Corkscrews” in advertisements/shipping notices)

11)paperspast.natlib.govt.nz the corresponding online search tool for New Zealand newspapers

12)”Kitchenalia” by Ken Arnold,has a page from a “Crowden & Garrod” London 1891 catalogue

13) Bill Jarema's records of Ebay transactions 14) http://www.sha.org/bottle/closures.htm ,a good article on carbonated bottle closures before the crown seal. On the website of the Society for Historical Archeology (See Figure 1A below)

15)Tire-bouchons francais, Gerard Bidault. P196-201 on the French manufacturer Sitbon

16) A James Heeley, Birmingham catalogue dated June 1902 , and most recently

17) Champagne Collectibles ,Bull & Paradi , p150-225 covering Champagne “hooks”

The only subject I have tried to research in any depth,but without much success, is the derivation of the name “Adelaide”

Naturally I welcome further information and corrections. This is a work in progress and I will keep it updated and available to anyone interested . I also hope it will send a few new Adelaides in my direction.

FIGURE 1

My “Adelaide” classification is a little subjective and blurry to define but I know one when I see it!

The corkscrew I describe as a “conventional” Adelaide is the type often marked “Johnson” or “Lockwood”,but usually unmarked. It has a smooth curved horn handle,with a rounded point at one end and a ferrule and spike at the other end. It has a plain shank usually with a square cross-section.

My classification is much broader:

-It includes synthetic or “faux” horn and wood handles where the wood is shaped and painted to simulate horn. I exclude all obviously non-horn handles although interestingly the catalogue extract in Figure 1 above includes one at the bottom with a steel handle.

-It includes some implements which are not strictly spikes but I think all the implements protruding from one cut end of the horn handle have a wire breaking function. The blade type spikes were generally marketed specifically as champagne knives, to break the wire holding the champagne cork. ( see Bull & Paradi p150-225) . It may well be that all true Adelaides have a spike not a blade (see Figure 1 above) but as I said mine is a subjective classification.

-With very few exceptions they all have,or originally had, a metal ferrule finishing off the cut end of the handle from which the spike emerges.

-Sometimes,though rarely, both ends of the handle have ferrules with a second implement opposite the spike. Perhaps a brush or ( as in Screwbase CBb010) a champagne knife. Sometimes there is no second implement (Screwbase Cbx138)

There are several borderline entries. They have horn handles but the handles are not conventional Adelaide handles and have blades rather than spikes:

(i) The 1906 British registration of Shaw (Ellis p104).The spike is attached at the narrow end of the horn handle and the flat end has a metal cap described in Ellis as a hammer. It is marked with a registration number “RD No 472939” and I would love to get one .So it's included

(ii) A British corkscrew with a symmetrical horn (or ebony?) handle and a champagne knife marked “No.1 Wade Wingfield Rowbotham Sheffield”. Ellis book 2, p160 (“horn”) and Screwbase

FIGURE 1A

Cbx216 (“ebony”) , See Figure 1A, and

(iii) A beautiful American ivory handle with brush and wire cutter marked “Will & Fink” on the shank. (Screwbase Cbx202).I guess this shouldn't be called an “Adelaide” but I'd still like it!

Perhaps the easiest way to describe my slightly extended definition of Adelaide corkscrews is to include any corkscrew which fits in Screwbase class CB which has a handle made of actual or simulated animal product.

Most Adelaides were made in Sheffield though I think the ones with antler handles and more decorative shanks tended to come from Birmingham and some Adelaides were made in Germany. There are many examples in the German trade catalogues and Reinhold Berndt believes all the corkscrews in the catalogues were made in Germany, though they were often blatant copies of English designs (Berndt p30).

The dates of the four English registrations and two patents give a fair indication of when most Adelaides were produced. The first registration was No.42353 in 1886. The last registration was Berkeley's No 620370 in 1913 which was also the year when two Adelaides with crown cap-opener attachments were patented. I suggest that about that time the wire-breaking spike was made redundant as the crown cap became the standard method of sealing beer and other carbonated drinks.

In the 1920 catalogue of the French manufacturer Sitbon, a conventional Adelaide is included in a very ambitious corkscrew range.(Bidault p200).However the venture failed and bankruptcy followed a year later (Bidault p200).I think it most unlikely that Sitbon ever produced an Adelaide. If it did it may have been the last produced anywhere.

Figure 1A shows a typical wire fastened cork commonly used to seal carbonated drink bottles before the advent of the crown seal.(Reference 14 above has lots of information on these types of bottle

closure).

I suggest that Adelaide corkscrews,despite their simplicity, are particularly rich in their variety because;

1) They were extremely popular for a long time2) In their basic form they were not the subject of any restrictive patents or registrations so they

were produced by many different makers with different makers' names and individual styles,and

3) The fact that the handle was a natural product,horn,produced it's own variety.

MARKINGS

The usual marking is the maker's name. While most Adelaides are unmarked,collectively we currently have or have records of more than 50 different markings from around 25 different makers,usually impressed on the shank but occasionally on the spike. No handles are marked.

Johnson.

The most common maker's name is Johnson. Ellis (p302) points out that Christopher Johnson & Co won a gold medal at the 1880 Melbourne exhibition and appointed an Australian agent, hence the local popularity of Johnsons. The usual marking is “CJ Johnson” with a flag trademark on a squared shaft .

Less common is the Johnson variant with the British registered spike (#42353),discussed below, which also has the name and flag on the spike. Figure 2

FIGURE 2

A rare Johnson marking is “Johnson Western Works” with flag. See Figure 3.

FIGURE 3 Ellis (p81 & p302) describes how John Marshall traded as Christopher Johnson and Company, Western Works Portobello Sheffield.

Marshall

The name “John Marshall” is also fairly common with a slim crinkly antler handle but is less common on the conventional smooth buffalo handle (see discussion of handles below) .Sometimes the word “Sheffield” is added .

Lockwood

The marking “Lockwood” is also common . Ellis (p102 & 306) discusses Lockwood Brothers Limited of Spittal Hill Sheffield. The shank marking is usually “Lockwood” preceded by the trademark “C++X”. A rare marking is “Lockwood Bros” .

The Lockwood registered spike is marked “Regd 437760” on one face and “Real Knife Pampa” on another.

Ellis p102 has some great pictures of the Lockwood Pampa trademark with a running ostrich and an extract from a Lockwood trade catalogue showing corkscrews with the registered spike and the standard Lockwood nail-type spike.

Eye Witness

Another fairly common mark is “Eye Witness Sheffield”. “Eye Witness”, with a picture of an eye rather than the words,was registered as a a trademark in 1838 by John Taylor and on his death and his daughter's marriage to a Needham the trademarks “Taylor” and “Eye Witness” emerged as Needham Veall & Tyzack operating the Eye Witness Works in Milton St Sheffield. Eye Witness knives continue to be made at the Eye Witness Works by Harrison Fisher & Co Ltd which acquired Needham Veall & Tyzack in 1975 and changed its name to Taylors Eye Witness Limited in 2007

Federation

“Federation” is presumably a reference to the federation of Australian states to form the

Commonwealth of Australia in 1901 This was a trademark of Thomas Turner & Co, Sheffield (see Ellis p327 discussion of Thomas Turner although Ellis doesn't mention the Federation mark).The Federation only seems to be found in Australia where it is reasonably common.

Other less common markings are:

– “Henry Boker Germany” Apparently an Anglicised version of Heinrich Boker the Solingen corkscrew maker. This is different to the marking on other German corkscrews “H.Boker & Co”,which refers to a New York importer (the 2 firms were related). The Boker marking is found on both smooth buffalo and crinkly antler handles.

–

–– “E.M.Dickenson Sheffield”,–– “Bodmann” preceded by the stylised initials”KW”.The Bodmann handles are made of wood

which is shaped and painted to simulate horn.(Figure 4).Sometimes also marked “Germany” or “Made in Germany”

FIGURE 4

– .Reinhold Berndt has no record of Bodmann corkscrews but Bodmann tools often pop up on ebay in Australia and Bodmann is still manufacturing or distributing German hand tools such as diamond cutting blades (see www.alishardware.com and search Bodmann).In the Brisbane Courier Mail in 1927 Bodmann & Co of Reinscheid Germany were described as manufacturers of guaranteed tools and hardware. I also have a Monopol universal type ball-bearing frame corkscrew marked “K.W.Bodmann”.Further information on Bodmann would be welcome.

– “Slash” variations. Slash was a trademark of Charles Ibbotson and Co, a Sheffield cutler whose factory was named “Melbourne Works”. Slash corkscrews tend to turn up in poor condition often with missing ferrules. Markings we have are “Ibbotson's Slash” (rare),”Slash”,Slash No 9”, Slash No 10” , “Slash No 21”,”Slash No 30”and “Slash No 33 ” (or “35”?) with variations in size,ferrules,worms etc. Most have holes for hanging rings which is unusual for conventional Adelaides.

Name markings which I classify as rare on Adelaides,on the basis that I only know of one or two examples, are:

“A Brooksbank Sheffield” and the Brooksbank trademark of a cannon above the word “Defiance” on the other side of the shank

“Rodgers” with the two star(asterisk and maltese cross) .This was a trademark of the well known Joseph Rodgers & Sons of Sheffield. Also “W Rodgers” seen on Ebay

“R Jones” on the shank of a conventional Adelaide or on the base of a very large Wolverson finger hole. Ellis p46 refers to this prominent Birmingham maker's name on a large Wolverson finger hole.

“A E Oxley Sheffield”

“Sheffield”.On its own I believe this mark is not a place name but a registered mark used by several Sheffield makers named Sheffield,probably Sheffield Scissor Razer and Tool Company

“J Gamble” or ”Joseph Gamble Sheffield”( see Ellis p290),

”Wingfield & Co Sheffield” on a conventional Adelaide and the maker's full name“Wade Wingfield Rowbotham Sheffield” and a large “No 1” both on the cutting blade of a marginal Adelaide entry: See Ellis book 2 page 160 and Screwbase CBx216

“L(?) Wynn”,

“W&C.Wynn cast steel”

”Joseph Wragg & Sons Sheffield”,

“Hornby & Wragg”

”GF Hipkins & Son” Hipkins was a Birmingham maker of several much more serious corkscrews. The horn on the Hipkins Adelaide is a pale antler rather than the usual smooth dark horn used by the Sheffield makers. Mine is marked on the shank. Screwbase (Cbx131) says it is marked on the spike but this is not correct.

“Farrow & Jackson”(see Screwbase Cbx138).Not a conventional Adelaide having ferrules at each end of the handle. This prominent London merchant, impressed their name on many of the corkscrews they sold.

“R.Parsons & Co Sheffield”

“W.Marples & Sons Sheffield”(horn handle)and”Wm Marples & Son”(crinkly antler handle)

“Robert Marples Sheffield”

“Jameson & Co ,Warranted”

“F Herder A.Sn Solingen” with crossed key trademark. This maker is noted in Peters & Giulian's Pocket Corkscrews p276. The “Sn” is a guess based on other reported markings

“W R Loftus cast steel” seen on Ebay

“Stacey Bros Sheffield”,found only in New Zealand.“W F Screw”, seen in New Zealand

”J Wheeler”, on a wood handled corkscrew See: Screwbase Cbx231 for similar.

“Wiltshire W Australia” recorded on Ebay. (any more information would be appreciated)

“W&H”inside a pennant,the trademark of Walker & Hall of Sheffield. The known examples also are marked on the opposite face of the shank “U.S.S.Co.N.Z”-see below

“Woolhouse Melbourne”(see discussion below)

“Taylor” (see Adelaide discussion below)

“Adelaide” discussed in more detail below

Unfortunately Adelaides were not much used for advertising. The only fairly common advertising is marked “P&O”(and rarely “P&O B I”),the British shipping line. Harder to find ,at least outside New Zealand, are “U.S.S.Co”and “U.S.S.Co.N.Z” for the Union Steam Ship Co of New Zealand. Ellis (p81) refers to examples of the Johnson Reg No 42353 which advertise “Imperial Hotel”.

Other known but rare markings are “Excella” with a stylised “E”,”Afralia” ,the number “412” in a rectangle,the initials “A.T.L”, ”Germany” on the spike,”Improved”(seen on a registered Johnson spike) “Steel” (Screwbase Cbx132), a shank with 5 oblique strokes”/////” and one very large corkscrew with a simple eight pointed star.

“ADELAIDE”

The name “Adelaide” was widely used as a generic name for these spiked horn corkscrews. It was regularly used by different makers,merchants and shippers none of whom seem to have owned the name.

In Ellis p81 there is an extract from a Johnson catalogue headed “Adelaide Corkscrews”.Similarly on p102 Ellis has a picture from a Lockwood catalogue also referring to these spiked horns as “Adelaide Corkscrews”.

A page from a 1891 Crowden & Garrod catalogue gives every corkscrew a name. Sometimes the name relates to a well known named registered or patented corkscrew such as the Hercules,the Victor and the Surprise. Other names like the “Adelaide”,the “Butler's”(for a simple wood handled straight pull), the“Waiter's” (for an eyebrow) and the “United Service” and the “Grand” (for two different wing nuts) seem to be merely generic.

James Heeley & Sons,in a 1902 catalogue of the extensive range of corkscrews they manufactured,offered 2 versions of a horn handled 'Adelaide” corkscrews (a square shank and a smaller cheaper version with a round shank).The “Adelaide” was the only corkscrew sold by name apart from a few which carried Heeley's own registered trademark

A page from an unknown catalogue (Figure 1) pictures a range of spiked horns under the general

description of “Adelaide Corkscrews” This extract has a wide range of handles and decorative shafts including one with a finger hole and surprisingly one with a metal handle. This may suggest that the term “Adelaide” related merely to the spike. However I have limited my review to spiked horns,as horns are defined above.

The earliest reference to “Adelaide corkscrews” I have found is in an advertisement in the Daily Southern Cross of 15 April 1871 for P.A.Phillips, an Auckland hardware importer and retailer announcing the contents of a shipment from England .Later shipping announcement references included for example the Sydney Mail on 22 April 1876, The Brisbane Courier on 12 August 1880 etc .The Hawkes Bay Herald of 25 July 1881 announced that a shipment of goods including Adelaide corkscrews had just arrived in Napier,New Zealand. Many such shipping notices appeared in Australian and New Zealand newspapers in the 1880's and 1890's. The last such shipping announcement I found was in The West Australian 1898.Usually they were the only type of corkscrews in a shipment. Usually the shipping announcement references were unbranded but sometimes in New Zealand the references were specifically to “Johnson's Adelaide corkscrews”.Eg the Evening Post Wellington in 1895 and 1910 and the Bay of Plenty Times of 7 October 1904 in which Mann & Co advertised “Christopher Johnson's fine cutlery” including “Adelaide corkscrews with solid centres”

The term was still being used in catalogues after 1904 (see Ellis p102). In 1907 the Sydney retailer Anthony Hordern was advertising “genuine Adelaide corkscrews” for sale for 1/6 (ie 18d) and “Adelaide pattern corkscrews” for 10d. What was the distinction?.

The only “Adelaide” references I have found after a 1915 reference in the Hobart Mercury are all in the Brisbane Courier Mail where Adelaide Corkscrews were still being sold at discounted prices,perhaps as remainders, as late as 21st July 1926.

I am not sure where the name “Adelaide” comes from. Adelaide is the capital of the state of South Australia,the home of Australian winemaking. Adelaide was named in 1836 after Queen Adelaide the consort of King William IV at that time.

I know of 3 corkscrews with the name “Adelaide” impressed on the shaft although I can find no record of “Adelaide” as a trademark.

i) I have one marked “Taylor” and “Adelaide” on separate faces of the shank. This seems to be a different Taylor to the “Eye Witness” Taylor discussed earlier. Taylor Bros of Sheffield 1851-1919 operated from Adelaide Works in Mowbray St Sheffield. Perhaps this is the basis for the general Adelaide name. But why would Lockwood and Johnson use the name of another and presumably competing Sheffield manufacturer to describe their own corkscrews?

Simon Barley,writing on the history of the Sheffield saw industry,and specifically Beardshaw & Son (see wkfinetools.com) suggests that Taylor Bros selected the name Adelaide Works as an allusion to the firm's most important export market, Australia, just as Robert Sorby had Kangaroo Works and Beardshaw & Co had Baltic Steel Works. Taylor Bros had another trademark with an Australian connection which was a boomerang with the word “boomerang” inside

ii) I have another marked “Lockwood” and “Adelaide” on opposite faces of the shaft of a corkscrew with a cap lifter attachment patented in 1913. (see discussion of caplifter attachments below).

iii) Bill Jarema has one simply marked “Adelaide” with no maker's name.

“MELBOURNE”

In the rare marking “Woolhouse Melbourne” the reference to “Melbourne”,unlike “Adelaide” is apparently not a trademark or reference to the type of corkscrew but refers to the location of the Woolhouse business.

W.Woolhouse & Co was a Melbourne based business (143-5 Bourke St) which advertised itself in a 1907 Melbourne paper as “Sheffield cutlers and umbrella manufacturers”.

There is also a history of cutlers in Sheffield UK named Woolhouse but I can find no references after 1832

Although W.Woolhouse & Co claimed to be a manufacturer of cutlery (specifically scissors and razors) I think these items would have been imported from the UK presumably Sheffield and merely branded “Woolhouse”. I don't know whether or how this Melbourne company was linked to any Woolhouse cutler in Sheffield. Perhaps they were related companies with a manufacturing arm in Sheffield and a distribution business in Melbourne. (This would be similar to the relationship between the Boker firms in Solingen and New York. see Boker discussion above)

Further information on Woolhouse would be welcome

SHANKS

The standard shank has a square cross-section , perhaps accounting for 98 % of all Adelaides.

All known marked shanks are square except for the fat round shank marked “P&O”and the décorative shank marked ”steel”(CBx132)

The rounded shanks are sometimes plain but are often decorative with some turning. Adelaides with rounded shanks are often quite individual with other quality features such as fine pale coloured handles,brushes,gripping teeth,a Henshall button or a hole for a Lund type lever .Two in Screwbase have Wolverson signet finger holes (Cbx120 and Cbx121) and Ellis 2 (p161) pictures a nice one with a pale antler handle

I have one Adelaide without a shank, just all bladed worm to the handle,which seems original.

HANDLES

The conventional handle is a smooth dark greyish brown which Derek told me is goat horn. In an old Q&A segment on Don Bull's website,Ron McLean says they are goat. Christopher Sykes in his old catalogues also called it goat but other collectors have told me it is buffalo. A German catalogue describes and pictures a smooth “buffalo” handle.(Berndt p57). A Crowden & Garrod 1891 London catalogue pictures an “Adelaide” with “buffalo” handle (selling for 9/- per dozen). Don Bull describes them as cow as does Ellis (p115). For convenience I'll call it buffalo too. But where did they find so

many buffaloes?

Derek distinguished some handles with a lengthwise ridge top and bottom which he said was some type of heat pressing or moulding process. Ellis (p302) refers to Johnson corkscrews being “characterised by their black moulded horn handles”. However Johnson horns usually don't have the ridge I associate with moulding. The ridge is more prominent when the horn has faded.(Figure 4A)

FIGURE 4A

Unfortunately I don't yet understand this and would welcome clarification. I. have one handle which seems somehow to have been pressed into 8 faces so having a roughly octagonal cross-section.

The standard colour has often faded and can look somewhat like wood. Sometimes they are damaged by worm or weevil holes.

Being a natural product, size (from 4.5 to 10 cms) ,shape(amount of bend,some are straight) and colour all vary. I feel the nicest handles are shiny with some natural colour variation. One favourite has a pale slightly translucent tip (Figure 5)

FIGURE 5

The major variation is the crinkly horn which I associate with John Marshall (Figure 6 and Screwbase CBx132 and CBx133).I understand this is staghorn or antler. In Screwbase CBx136 there is a metal finishing cap on the end of the handle.

FIGURE 6

Other variations are the pale horn handle eg on the Hipkins ( Screwbase CBx131).I have one handle which is upside down.

In Derek's collection there is a decorative handle with carving and inlaid mother of pearl ,most of which has worn off. Still lovely.(Figure 7)

FIGURE 7

Finally there are imitation horn handles made of plastic or made of wood painted black with a curved shape to simulate horn It seems that the plastic faux horn always simulates the crinkly antler handle while wood is usually used to simulate the smooth buffalo handle.(I have one very rough wood simulated antler handle marked F Herler Solingen)

I believe all of the wood handles are German. All Bodmann corkscrews have painted wood handles (Figure 8).

FIGURE 8

There are many explicit examples of “imitierter hirschhorngriff mit spitze” in Berndt's catalogues, eg p134 and p57 which shows a “black polished wood” version selling for seven shillings per dozen,a shilling less than the same with the genuine buffalo handle. Most of the wood handles are imitation buffalo but there is an imitation staghorn handle in a German catalogue which may be wood (Berndt p58)

There is one shape of wood handle which is less horn-like:Figure 8A below. This shape handle is usually German and although it doesn't really look like a horn because the ferrule end is tapered (resulting in a smaller ferrule) it is still described in the German Catalogue as imitation horn (Berndt p78 #5230). The actual corkscrew in Figure 8A is English, marked “J Wheeler” and has a unique spike (Figure 16A below). It is owned by Bert Guilian.

FIGURE 8A The plastic handle simulates the crinkly antler not the smooth buffalo. I think these are all British.

Sometimes I find the plastic and the antler difficult to distinguish. One I am sure is plastic has a Wolverson registered finger hole (Figure 9 and Screwbase Cbx121) Others which may be faux antler often have decorative shanks (Eg.Screwbase Cbx133)

FIGURE 9

WORMS

Adelaides come with the full range of worms except I have no record of any with an Achimedean worm.

The most common worm is the wire helix. The bladed worm is also common. The catalogue illustration of Johnson's Adelaide corkscrews in Ellis (p81) has a bladed “solid centre” worm and also a worm described as “feather edge” (Ellis 2 p17 calls this type of worm a “bladed helix”) of which I have a few. Also somewhat uncommon are fluted worms and bladed worms with straight points. Occasionally the worms and shanks are nickel plated. Some have nice speed worms and there is a “P&O” with a nice speed worm in Derek's collection (Figure 10) .

FIGURE 10

The rare one is Derek's double helix.(Figure 11) which I have not seen or heard of elsewhere.

FIGURE 11

SPIKES

The standard is a four edged or square section straight point about two cms long. (Screwbase Cbx130) A common variation starts with a circular section and then sharpens with four edges. This spike reminds me of a nail and this is the spike usually used by Lockwood .Lockwood's more difficult to find registered spike (# 437760 ) has a big irregular three sided spike with an impressive “Pampa”markings as noted above (Ellis p102) (Screwbase CBx139)

Ellis (p81) describes the somewhat harder to find Johnson registered spike (#42353) as “a relatively flat section spike which has a distinctive shallow S-bend”(See Figure 2 and Screwbase CBx136).Ellis notes that the marking “Rd No 42353” is only very lightly etched on one side of the spike and often almost impossible to see. I was pleased to learn this because I thought I'd never found a good marking. The other side of this spike is impressed “C.J Johnson” with the flag mark (Figure 2 above) or ,rarely,”Improved”

A cross between these two registered spikes has a somewhat triangular cross section with one face rounded and the other face as shown in Figure 12 below. I found this very long spike (5.5cm) on a Lockwood with the Kemter And Bell caplifter. Fletcher Wallis(p273) shows the flat face of this spike.

FIGURE 12

The standard Johnson spike is really quite distinctive itself being not quite a symmetrical square section and pointing slightly downwards, some more so than others. See Ellis p81 and Figure 13 which shows this standard Johnson spike between a Lockwood nail and a typical square section spike.

FIGURE 13

The most collectable spike is the 1913 UK Registration number 620370 of Berkeley, the well-known Birmingham manufacturer. Ellis (p115) has an original photo of this “snake tongue cap lifter cum blade” so notes “at least one example exists somewhere...no example has been reported to date”. There is nice one in Derek's collection (Figure 14), Bill Jarema has records of 2 selling on Ebay and one in poor condition, but with the registration number marked on the spike, sold at the ICCA auction in 11/09.

FIGURE 14.

Another interesting spike,with a blade or cutting edge, is shown in Screwbase Cbx132.It is marked “steel” on the turned shaft. I also have one on with a Henshall button (Figure 15).

FIGURE 15This type of spike with a cutting edge was intended to cut the wire on Champagne and many special purpose Champagne knives can be seen in Bull& Paradi. (p150-225). Bull & Paradi also include some conventional straight spikes (p158) citing an all metal example marketed as a Champagne opener (see Berndt p78 #5177) but the usual distinction is that only the curved bladed knives are intended for Champagne . See eg the distinction in Berndt p39.

There are several variations of Champagne knives found on Adelaide corkscrews. They tend not to be applied to conventional Adelaides and some are stretching the definition of Adelaides (eg Figure 1A above ) but I have one otherwise completely conventional Johnson with a champagne knife. (See also Berndt p39 #552). Perhaps the ultimate is Screwbase CBb010 which has both on a horn handle with 2 ferrules making it a massive 17cm wide:see Figure 15A below:

FIGURE 15A

Some other irregular spikes appear on Boker (screwdriver-like tip) and German wood corkscrews(triangular section ). Derek described Figure 16 as a duckbill. The minor variations are endless.

FIGURE 16There are several variations of champagne blades. I include these so that I can include a nicely marked corkscrew at Screwbase Cbx216 (and Ellis 2 page ) recently acquired from Barbara Ellis..The blade is marked “Wade Wingfield Rowbotham Sheffield No 1”.Another impressive corkscrew (again from Barbara Ellis) has 2 ferrules. At one end is a blade and at the other a conventional 4 sided spike (Screwbase Cbb010)

Figure 16A is the unique spike on the corkscrew in Figure 8A above. This is a strange one, starting square, then beveled to octagonal then rounded and then beveled again to have two sides.

FIGURE 16A

FIXERS

The shank on most Adelaides is usually affixed to the handle with a washer and the narrow top of the shank hammered fairly flat to the top of the horn handle with no nut.

The exceptions are the two most common named makers,Johnson and Lockwood. Johnson and Lockwood both used a threaded nut which was intended to be ”permanent” (meaning it is difficult to remove without showing signs of tampering)Johnsons always have a square nut to screw onto the top of the shank. The nut usually protrudes on top of a prominent brass washer.Lockwood used a small washer and a nut. The nut usually has cut off corners to make it look somewhat octagonal. How about that for useless information! Figure 17 shows a standard fixer above a Lockwood with a Johnson at the bottom

FIGURE 17

Some Adelaides,including some with antler handles and elaborate shanks and also some of the “Slash” variations, have a hole for a hanging ring. The ring is usually missing. The hole for the hanging ring is formed in the usual fashion, in an extension of the shaft through the handle secured by a permanent round steel nut

The washer is usually iron or brass and on one “Boker” it is copper.

Some Adelaides with antler handles and more elaborate shanks have fixers which can be undone ,presumably to replace the worm. A rare fixer on a horn handle has a diamond shape (I know of 2 Adelaides with diamond fixers: the corkscrew in Figure 7 and the corkscrew in Screwbase CBb010).See Figure 17A

FIGURE 17A

Ron McLean's Q&A has a picture of an Adelaide which uses a nail in the side of the handle to affix the shank. He says most German Adelaides use this method to fix the shank to the handle but I only have one of these.

FERRULES

These metal bands decorate the cut end of the horn which holds the spike. They are usually about 7mm wide (though can be up to 13mm) .Ron MacLean writes that they are usually nickel- plated brass or “German silver” (white brass).A few are copper.

All the simulated horn handles made of wood ,including “Bodmann”, and some other German horns, have iron ferrules.

An uncommon variation sometimes used by Lockwood , Johnson and Slash (No 33) is a ferrule that wraps around the end of the handle to enclose the spike. More a cup than a band.(Figure 18)

FIGURE 18

I have one sterling silver ferrule hallmarked for S Blanckensee & Son Ltd Birmingham 1918. .This handle also has a brush and ferrule at the other end (Figure 19). Another sterling silver ferrule is marked for Frederick Wich & Co, London 1899.It has a pale antler handle,hanging ring and a fat decorative shank ending with a button.

FIGURE 19

The ferrule is often missing but some corkscrews I include in this collection never had a ferrule, including one marked “Johnson Western Works” ( refer Figure 3).

CAPLIFTERS

For me the most sought after Adelaide variant is the caplifter for crown seals. As the crown seal signalled the end of.corks as a sealant for most carbonated drinks, making the Adelaide spike redundant,these caplifter variations were not commercially successful and therefore rare.. There are two British patents for caplifter attachments both from 1913 and both from Australian inventors. A little later in the same year Berkeley registered a double spike which also functioned as a crown seal caplifter. See discussion of Figure 14 above. Looking at Ellis book of British registered designs,in the following twenty years (until the figurals of the 1930's), there are no more spikes or cutting blades and almost all the designs focus on,or at least incorporate, a caplifter-corkscrew combination.

Kemter & Bell patent

The Kemter & Bell caplifter is an extension of a steel disc which fits between the ferrule and the spike.It was patented in the UK in 1913 by Gustav Kemter & Gordon Bell both described as “Inventors of 257 Little Collins Street Melbourne”. I haven't found any further information about Messrs Kemter & Bell. The Melbourne premises at the time housed a liquor shop and the “Cafe Francais”,a fashionable restaurant.

The patent has an alternative where the caplifter is formed as a claw extension of the ferrule in which case the ferrule would need to be made of steel for the required strength. I am not aware of any example of this variation.

All Kempter & Bell's are rare. I know of 4 versions and 8 corkscrews in total.

There are two versions of Kemter & Bell caplifters on Screwbase:

-CBl131 which is marked Johnson and also has a marked registered Johnson spike . Ellis p81 shows a close-up of this ,and

-CBl130 is marked on the caplifter disc : “PATENT 7461 18 12 1912 K”.This is the Australian patent number 7461 of 18 Dec 1912 .The later British patent is #954 of 13 Jan 1913. The Canadian patent is #152,672 of 23 Dec 1913. See Figure 20 below.

This is the corkscrew in Frank Ellis' 1999 best 6 in which he noted there was a boomerang shape on top of the letter K, presumably for Kemter. .There is no maker's name but a different boomerang shape was used as a trademark by Taylor Bros who operated the Adelaide Works (discussed above) I bought this corkscrew from Barbara Ellis and it still has traces of a brass wash on the steel disc to make it blend in with the colour of the ferrule.

FIGURE 20

I know of 2 other versions of the Kemter and Bell. The Kempter & Bell in Derek's collection is marked “Lockwood” and has a standard Lockwood spike shaped like a nail.

Wallis (p273) pictures another Kemter & Bell marked “Lockwood/Adelaide”indicating that the one corkscrew is marked with both these markings on different parts of the corkscrew.

I bought one of these on Ebay from a Queensland seller. It is marked “Lockwood'' and “Adelaide” on opposite sides of the shank. The caplifter disc is unmarked. The fixer is a typical Lockwood..The spike is very large and distinctive (Figure 12 above) .The example in Wallis seems to have the same spike.

Tucker & Rickard patent

The second and even rarer caplifter variation is the 15 Feb 1913 English patent ( number 3951) of Charles Churchill Tucker and Arthur Rickard ,both of Sydney. I have searched for an Australian patent without success. This English patent application was made only a month after the presumably competing patent of Kemter and Bell.

Wallis has a photo of one (without its ferrule and missing the tip of the helix) on p274. The caplifter is attached to the shank with leverage applied by using the shank and the handle. The patent number is marked on the caplifter.”Pat. No 3951”(Figure 21).

FIGURE 21

There is no maker's name. Wallis speculates that it may have been made by Lockwood but it lacks the

threaded nut which is used to affix the shaft of all Lockwood and Johnson corkscrews. I assume that it was made by some other Sheffield maker rather than in Australia.

The patent drawings in Wallis also show the caplifter protruding from the spike and using the handle for leverage .I don't know if this variant was ever manufactured.

Rickard was a prominent Sydney land developer who was bankrupted in the 1930's depression. Tucker was a principal of Tucker's wine and spirit merchants, the leading wine merchants in Australia until recently acquired by the NZ brewer Lion Nathan.

Rickard founded the “Millions Club” a Sydney businessmen's club dedicated to promoting immigration to Australia. Tucker was a prominent member. The corkscrew invention must have been an interesting diversion from their main business interests. In 23 April 1913 the Sydney Morning Herald announced that “The Crown Patent Corkscrew Company Ltd has a capital of 5000 Pounds....and the first directors are Messrs CC Tucker and Arthur Rickard”.Unfortunately the First World War intervened and then Tucker died suddenly in 1919. In any event the Adelaide corkscrew with its spike had by then been made redundant by the general use of the crown seal on carbonated beverages..

I have searched around Sydney for this corkscrew. I have spoken to the chairman of Tuckers , a descendant of CC Tucker. No luck! I've also contacted some of Rickard's descendants. Again no joy. So I was excited to acquire the rather sad example from Fletcher Wallis and continue to look for a nicer one.

SCARCITY and VALUE

Adelaides must be one of the least expensive corkscrew collecting categories. Ebay is littered with them,usually unmarked,often missing the spike and/or the ferrule. Quite a few come from the UK, rarely from the US or Europe but most come from Australia. The examples from Australia are usually plain horn,the antler handles and more decorative shanks seem to come from the UK. The examples found in Australian and New Zealand markets and shops tend to be more expensive, than those on Ebay. But occasionally local hunting will throw up a new marking and my few German examples have all been found locally.

My value suggestions are for Ebay in US$ on the assumption that the A$ is “usually” worth around US$0.80. Bull (p168 ) cites $30-60 as a broad price guide. This would still overstate the value of a simple unmarked Adelaide but gives a reasonable guide to the value of a marked one..

A clean unmarked Adelaide may be worth picking up for up to $10.

Markings add value. A standard marked Johnson is maybe $10-15. A Lockwood around $15. Eye Witness $20 , Marshall and Federation $25 ,Dickenson or P&O $30.After that the names may range up towards $100.We're not getting rich here are we!

The commonest major design variant is the registered Johnson spike. They are found quite often in Melbourne and I think $40 is about right for one where “RD No 42353” is visible on the spike. .

The Lockwood registered spike with the Pampa trademark on the spike (RD 437760) has popped up on Ebay occasionally and has sold for around $75

For the rarer variants such as the double helix or the registered or patented caplifters it becomes a matter of negotiation and need. Though rare ,and much more collectible than a rare maker's name, they still lack the beauty or mechanical character which tend to attract collectors. (This of course is code for don't ask me to pay too much!)

The unregistered and unpatented variations are a matter of taste. Many minor manufacturing features which I have distinguished above add little if any value. I'm probably alone in caring whether a ferrule is nickel plated brass or steel. However an attractive Adelaide with a decorative shank will often sell between $40 and $80.

My observation of other collections suggests that ,outside Australia and New Zealand, Adelaides are largely absent. A few international collectors show an interest in the UK registered and patented Adelaides. I have been pleased to acquire several from Frank Ellis' collection. Interest in the different markings is low to non-existent. In 2009 the ICCA conducted a survey of members to assess their holdings of UK registrations and patents. No Adelaides were included in the survey, presumably a reflection of the lack of interest. I would be pleased to hear from other collectors which Adelaides they own.

Because of the simplicity and generally low values of Adelaides, there is not a great problem with repairs, fakes and “marriages”. The most common problem is a replacement spike as they just screw in and are difficult to pick if attached to the correctly matching corkscrew. I think it would be difficult to replace a ferrule or worm. I assume Figure 22 is a marriage with a German fly-nut frame but it is nicely affixed.

FIGURE 22

MY PERSONAL WANT LIST

As well as any Adelaides not mentioned in this note, I need the following pieces mentioned in the note:

A) Ones I don't own

-double helix ( Figure 11)-UK Reg 620370 (Berkeley snake tongue spike/caplifter. ( Figure 14)-UK Reg 472939 (Shaw)-Will & Fink (eg Screwbase Cbx202).-Inlaid handle (See Figure 7)

B) Markings I don't own

-”Improved” on Johnson Registered spike 42353-”W Rodgers”-”R.Parsons & Co Sheffield”-”W R Loftus cast steel”-”Wiltshire W Australia”-”J Wheeler”-”Imperial Hotel”-”Adelaide” with no makers name-”Adelaide”with makers name other than “Taylor”-”Adelaide Lockwood” without a Kemter & Bell patented caplifter (never seen but must exist)-”W F Screw”

C)Needed in better condition

-UK patent 3951 (Tucker & Rickard see Figure 21).This I really need.-shaft with hole for Lund type lever-”Slash” with no number-”Slash No 10”-”Slash No 21”-”Stacey Bros Sheffield”-”Rodgers”-”P&O BI”-”F Herder A sn” with crossed key trademark-”Sheffield” with no other maker's name-shaft attached to handle with nail through side of handle (should be common?)-”Brooksbank”-”Afralia”

MORE INFORMATION WANTED

I also would really appreciate any corrections and more information. In particular:

-What are the handles made from? Is the horn from a buffalo,goat and/or cow...? What about the antlers? And what about the moulding process and the ridge down the centre of many horn handles.

-Any more catalogue pictures. A good copy of the catalogue in Figure 1 would be appreciated.

-What do other collectors own or not own? I understand that most collectors don't bother with Adelaides so just because there is low ownership doesn't mean something is particularly rare. But I'd be fascinated to know what's around.

-Information on specific makers as indicated above. In particular Bodmann. Also Woolhouse and Wiltshire..Also markings “Excella” “Afralia” “ATL”and “412”

-Any more information on the registered and patented Adelaides. I know nothing about the 1906 Shaw registration. Someone owns it...

-And of course clarification or other ideas about the name “Adelaide”