Printed in San Francisco & postmarked 1909

Above center: "J. GUNDLACH & Co. SAN FRANCISCO". A late 19th Century corkscrew (possibly of German manufacture) with a bell, ice hammer & pick. Bears no manufacturer's marks, but is indeed a very rare corkscrew. In 1858 a German winemaker Jacob Gundlach planted a vineyard he named 'Rhinefarm' in Sonoma County near his friend Agoston Haraszthy's vineyards. They also maintained wine vaults in San Francisco. J. Gundlach & Company existed until 1894 when Gundlach died, and the company became Gundlach-Bundschu. Jacob Gundlach's son-in-law Charles Bundschu had become a partner in the company before Jacob's death. Today Charles Bundschu's great-great-grandson Jim Bundschu operates Gundlach-Bundschu winery on the original Rhinefarm property.

Above left & right: Early 20th Century unmarked German folding pocket corkscrew. Similar in construction to Steinfeld & Reimer's 1894 registered design folding celluloid or metal figural legs. No maker's mark. The worm appears to be nearly a turn short. Engraved with advertising for "BUENA VISTA WINES, FRUIT BRANDIES" on one side & for "CALIFORNIA WINE & CORDIAL Co." on the other. The history of the wines and winery for which this corkscrew advertises is vague at best. The famous Buena Vista Vinicultural Society, which was founded by the 'father of California wine' Agaston Haraszthy in 1857 had nearly faded away by 1905, having been ravaged by phylloxera and financial woes. Therefore this corkscrew may have been made sometime between 1894 & 1905--probably near the end of that period. I can find no records for the California Wine & Cordial Co.

Above: All three corkscrews are examples of Ernst Steinfeld's 1899 German registered design (DRGM) # 116521. I have seen a good number of pre-prohibition winery advertising corkscrews of this design.

Top: "A. FINKE'S WIDOW". Marked on the lever arm "GERMANY". Alois Finke produced sparkling wines in San Francisco starting in 1864. After Finke's death in 1875 , his widow continued the business, and so named the wine. Their 'California Champagne', although artificially carbonated, was extremely popular, and produced until Prohibition.

Center: "THEO. GIER WINE CO." & "GIERSBERGER WINES". Marked on the lever arm "D. HERDER, OHLIGS, GERMANY". A German, Theodore Gier was a wine maker and wine & liquor merchant in Oakland, Livermore & Napa California. He built a winery in 1903 on Mount Veeder in Napa Valley, which later became the Christian Brothers' Mt. LaSalle and today the Hess Collection Winery.

Bottom: "MONT ROUGE WINES". Marked on the lever arm "GERMANY". Winery founded in 1885 by Adrien Chauche in Livermore, Alameda County, California. In 1892 he acquired a partner, Charles Bon who carried on the business when Chauche died in 1893. The winery survived only until Prohibition.

Above: "BEAULIEU-VINEYARD, RUTHERFORT-CAL". Also marked on the top handle "MADE IN FRANCE". This corkscrew is a version of what we know as J. Perille's 'Helice' with a 3-wing fly nut secondary handle, circa 1918. The famous Beaulieu Vineyard of Rutherford (note the misspelling "Rutherfort" on the handle) was founded in 1900 by Frenchman Georges de Latour. BV operated until prohibition in 1920, survived it, and upon the repeal of prohibition in 1933, reinstated itself as a major quality wine producer. BV's reputation is world famous to this day.

Champagne knife with walrus ivory handle

Walrus Ivory Handled Corkscrew by M. Price