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Williamson Sheaths - O'Leary's Billiken

Fred O'Leary described his billiken corkscrew with

―

A bone/ivory

figural with a Williamson-type corkscrew/cap lifter insert. I have

owned this unassuming piece for many years before discovering

what it is - a billiken. What is a billiken, you ask? The figure is a

creation of Florence Pretz of Kansas City, Missouri who was granted

a (U.S.) Design Patent for an 'Image October 6, 1908 (No. D39,603),

depicting a chubby little elf-like naked boy with a pointy head (or

turned up hair), pixie ears, slanty eyes, pug nose, wimpish smile and

rotund belly w/button, shown in a seated position with arms at the

side and the soles of his bare feet facing forward.

As for the name, it is thought to have oriental origins, which became

anglicized by a Chicago distributor - the Billiken Company. Thus

image and name came together, leading to an explosive fad in

1910/11 - later spreading to Japan - known as Billikenmania. Its

meaning as interpreted for us is

‗

god of things as they ought to be

,‘

or in other words it brings good luck. By rubbing the feet, the

desired effect could be achieved, which was not lost upon St. Louis

University which adopted the Billiken as their official mascot at the

height of Billikenmania. To this day SLU team are known as 'The

Billikens'.