8
Foreword
About 25 years ago I started collecting corkscrews.
Needless to say, much has changed since. The one
thing in the late 1970s that held back collectors
was the lack of written material - books, articles
and stories. Avid collectors pursued their twisted
hobby more or less in a vacuum of information.
The first book appeared by Watney & Babbidge, a
well written textbook like effort. As time passed,
we were treated to patent collections, general
information books, price guides, coffee table books
and pocket versions just to name a few. But these
all really addressed the technical or historical
aspect of corkscrew collecting, very few stories were regaled about who made
things, who found them, who used them and for what purpose.
And then came the Internet and with it corkscrew websites where presenting
stories were easy and everyone could
―
publish
‖
his favourite corkscrew tale.
Among the earliest, and by far the largest, website on corkscrews is authored by
Don Bull. Don is a prolific book publisher also with about a half dozen to his
credit. However, the really monumental effort from Don was
The Daily Screw
, an
Internet newspaper published every day for over a year. Collectors were glued
to their browsers to see what new story Don has come up with each morning.
Unquestionably, collecting, writing and publishing these articles was a
significant effort truly appreciated by his many readers.
This book is the result of the work Don had done on
The Daily Screw
. Many of
the stories he published on the web see print here. As I read through this pre-
publication copy he gave me when I recently visited him, it became clear to me
that this project is really different from all the other publishing efforts. This book
will appeal to all readers, not just
―
corkscrew experts
‖
because the material is
presented in short stories that people enjoy without the need for being experts.
Don has polished the on-line articles and added many more. It is truly a delight
to read this collection of short corkscrew stories, if you do, you will be
entertained while learning much.
So curl up with this book and enjoy the
―
tales
‖
about the corkscrew that most
people see strictly as a kitchen tool. For those of us who love these twisted
objects, this book adds much to our enjoyment.
Joe Paradi
