Tommy Campnell's Corkscrew Story.

From baseball cards in my youth to Beanie Babies in my twenties, I’ve always been a collector.  Yes, I said it…Beanie Babies!  I couldn’t help myself.  It was always the thrill of the hunt and finding a treasure!  Then one day Josef L’Africian and I were on the golf course and he said “Tommy, I think you should start collecting corkscrews.”  I simply asked him “Why?”  And he said “Because it’s much more mature than collecting Beanie Babies.”  To this day I am forever grateful that Josef pointed this out to me.

Josef gave me a copy of Don Bull’s “The Ultimate Corkscrew” so I could start to see what I was getting myself into.  It was mind blowing to say the least.  In a good way!

So many types!  So many variations!  So many designs!  So many corkscrews!  But where was I going to find them? 

Growing up in Chicago and with no background knowledge of anything antique, I decided it would be best to start out hunting for corkscrews from home.  Yup!  Ebay!  I spent hours searching eBay and then referencing the price guide.  I finally set my sights on a London Rack type corkscrew.  It was mechanical and oh so cool!  I placed a bid and became the High Bidder and eventually won the corkscrew!  Funny side note is that Josef was actually the under bidder!  Sorry Josef!