Music - Lights - Action ... New: musical corkscrew! Shaun from Kent asks ...
"Anyone who can build a lasting interest in anything to do with corkscrews is to be congratulated. I enclose a potentially interesting addition to your corkscrew collection. As chairman of the 'Screw Loose Society' I would like to ask your advice on the history and value of the enclosed bottle opener. We spent a full two hours discussing whether this particular bottle opener was part of the family 'corkscrews-live-forever'. We saw a similar opener in Kew Gardens, brought back by an intrepid explorer, but are not sure if this model fits the genus family."
"Anyone who can build a lasting interest in anything to do with corkscrews is to be congratulated. I enclose a potentially interesting addition to your corkscrew collection. As chairman of the 'Screw Loose Society' I would like to ask your advice on the history and value of the enclosed bottle opener. We spent a full two hours discussing whether this particular bottle opener was part of the family 'corkscrews-live-forever'. We saw a similar opener in Kew Gardens, brought back by an intrepid explorer, but are not sure if this model fits the genus family."
Paul Wright replies:
"Many thanks for you enclosure Shaun and your continuing interest in our website corkscrews4collectors.com. We read your letter with interest and were amused by the novelty bottle top opener enclosed therein. It is unfortunate that someone had stood on it as we received it in two parts. I must point out that this is actually a departure from our area of expertise as we specialise in antique corkscrews for wine bottles rather than modern bottle openers for beers.
However I'm sure you will be interested to learn that this is an early 21st century musical bottle opener and that in addition to this variety there were a number of musical corkscrews also manufactured under the same method. (These are less common and possibly of greater interest). The musical corkscrew and bottle opener, with inbuilt flashing lights, was originally advertised thus:
"Music - Lights - Action - New: musical corkscrew.
An accessory that makes an excellent gift for the hostess. Plays:
An accessory that makes an excellent gift for the hostess. Plays:
'We wish you a Merry Christmas' and flashes when used. 18 cm ( 7in. ) in height.
Requires 2 buttton batteries disposable and included.
There is also a bottle opener with same music. Plastic. Price $ 7.99 "
Requires 2 buttton batteries disposable and included.
There is also a bottle opener with same music. Plastic. Price $ 7.99 "
The principle of this bottle opening devise is based on the activation of an internal circuit between the batteries and an inbuilt chip attached to a small speaker. When the metal cap of the bottle is inserted into the bottle opener it completes the circuit thereby starting the music and flashing lights.
Musical Bottle Openers
There are a number of musical bottle openers available on the market today mostly as promotional gifts for football clubs. I have featured some of them in the photograph above and these include the 'Manchester United Musical Bottle Opener' and the 'Celtic Musical Bottle Opener' ... Hear "A grand old team..." as you open another bottle! Most of these sell for around £6.99 to give you an idea of value. The US Army musical bottle opener featured to the left may well interest you as it is advertised:
"Plays an American classic, "The Army Song!" Made from durable plastic. No buttons to push, the sound is automatic when the metal on the opener touches the bottle cap. Batteries included. Replaceable 1.5V batteries. Perfect for the person who has everything. Price: $8.99"
I regret that we have no interest in purchasing your bottle opener but had it been a musical corkscrew in mint condition we would perhaps have offered in the region of £2.50 - a little more than the value of your last submission. However please don't be discouraged and keep looking. Many of our readers have made really great finds out there and I'm sure you will too one day. It may just be that you're looking in the wrong place - to my knowledge none of the truly great corkscrew discoveries have been on the side of a motorway."
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Cash paid for old corkscrews!
Thank you for your erudite and timely reminder that the essential function of a corkscrew is to remove a cork.
ReplyDeleteI think I remember in an earlier exchange that it was felt in some quarters that the American Screwpull was superior to all other corkscrews. The idea was that the Screwpull was the only corkscrew with a proper screw rather than a spiral much loved by competitors.
I remember being enthralled as a young child by the Archimedes Screw – attributed to Nebuchadnezzar for use in the hanging Gardens of Babylon. The screw was used to draw water up a tube to water the gardens.
A completely different take on the word screw is used when we wrap paper round a small article. We call a prison guard a screw and we put pressure on a person by turning the screw.
There is still considerable discussion over whether the corks can be replaced by caps of various kinds in wine bottle. Caps used to be the preserve of plonk – but today more up market wine is pleased to have the cap unscrewed instead of pulled. Shrink wrap and plastic have become more popular. No superior wine buff, however, would wish to drink a wine where there is no risk of contamination by a lead based wire to hold the cork in.
On a rather sadder note, a screw loose person is now considered to be rather odd.
So a person who is intimately involved in cork screws is able to:
Remove corks
Raise water
Survive in prison
Wrap up little objects
Remain convinced that only they are right about wine.
Indeed we are likely to call someone who is intoxicated `screwed’. Perhaps that is the ultimate aim of a cork screw collector.