Now, a few words about corkscrew collecting. We now have a specific word for this "twisted" hobby’s participants, s/he is an "Helixophile".   There are many reasons people collect corkscrews, or anything else for that matter.   For most it starts with the appreciation of wine, then the amazement of the variety of designs to accomplish, what appears to be at first glance, a simple task - removing the cork from a bottle. One wonders why people would be motivated to invent such complex mechanisms, such costly devices and in so many forms.  Then, the thirst for knowledge about the history of corkscrews takes over and finally the true helixophile succumbs to the need to acquire examples which are new and interesting to them.  Collectors pursue many specialties in collecting, some collect patented pieces, some just the output of a single country, some the beautiful fruits of the silver and goldsmith's art while others specialize in early, hand made steel pieces.  Many are just "addicted" to corkscrew collecting.  In the words of one of our past Rights, Ron MacLean: "I have never met a corkscrew I did not like".   Or this by another former Right, Joe Paradi: "Corkscrew collecting isn't a life and death affair - it is more than that!".

Information on Corkscrew Collecting

The hobby has reached world wide proportions now and rare pieces are auctioned twice a year by the prestigious auction house in London, Christie's.  The ICCA has its own auction held as part of the yearly get togethers and lively bidding sees several hundred corkscrews changing hands among the members.  During the year, between meetings, there is correspondence, trades arranged and visits when one addict is in another's town on some occasion.  The group is very closely knit, many are dedicated to research and advancing the knowledge about corkscrews.  There have been several books authored by ICCA members: the "bible" of corkscrew collecting, by Dr. Watney and Dr. Babbidge.  This was followed by many more books and you can see a complete set on one of the webpages here, just click here.

Membership Information

The ICCA membership is fixed at fifty and there is a waiting list.   Persons desiring to become members should make application to the Right. Such application should include size and nature of collection, number of years collecting, how addiction was developed, any research done, special interests, names of members personally known and some biographical information.  A photograph and detailed description of what applicant regards as his/her six best corkscrews should be enclosed.  Research is highly regarded as membership eligibility as the ICCA has as one of its goals the finding and disseminating of corkscrew related information.

Membership by Country

As of October 2006 membership included addicts from Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States.

Officers

Right - It was decreed at the first meeting of the ICCA held in 1974 that the leader of the group is to be known as "Right" (After all, anyone would rather be Right than President, was the theory).  Brother Timothy (the famous Cellar master of the Christian Brothers winery in the U.S.A.) was elected as the first Right of the ICCA.
Chief Correspondent - his duties are to keep up the "correspondence" between the "addicts" of the ICCA.
Chaplain - his duties are quite straightforward - keep the faith in the ICCA.

Appointments

Treasurer and Editor of the Bottle Scrue Times are appointed at the Annual Meeting.  The BST is currently issued on a periodic basis, 3 or 4 times per year by the editor.  Former editors are: Don Bull, Dr. Joseph C. Paradi and Dr. Frank Ellis.

Honorary and Associate Members

The "honorary"  title is sometimes bestowed as decided by the Right and usually conferred on someone who has accomplished notable things in or for the ICCA - there are 7 such members at this time.  The "associate" member is someone who is either given up active collecting but was a long time ICCA member and wants to stay connected to the organization or not actually a collector but is instrumental in advancing corkscrew collecting - an example may be an expert at an auction house.  Associate members could also be spouses of deceased addicts if they were invited to be associate members (and they desired to be one).  There are 7 such members at the present time.

Addicts' Duties

Members are required to send a "Six Best" to all other members each year.  The Six Best (sometimes more or less than six corkscrews are pictured) consists of a photograph and an appropriate description of the corkscrews shown - it is customary to do research prior to describing the pieces in the photo.  A Best Six must be submitted two out of three years.  A member must attend at least one Annual General Meeting every three years.  Ideally, addicts will attend every meeting. Some research and "correspondence" about corkscrews are also activities expected of a member.

Dues

Annual dues are currently fixed at $100.00 U.S. funds.  Dues are payable to the treasurer by December 31 for the following year.

Awards

Homer Babbidge - Awarded annually to an addict for exceptional research about corkscrews.
Frank MacDonald - Presented to individual who publishes the best SIX BEST for the year.
Robert P. Nugent - Presented annually to the individual who submitted the best corkscrew story or material to the Bottle Scrue Times.

Auction

The ICCA is sponsoring a special corkscrews only auction site starting in 2008.  Two auctions per year will offer buyers and sellers an orderly and profitable venue to buy and sell.  As this will be an effort by corkscrew experts for corkscrew collectors, it should be a much better way to buy and sell corkscrews.  There are many special ideas and approaches that are implemented in this initiative.  If you are interested, just visit the auction website by clicking here.

ICCA History

During the early 1970's a number of people were already collecting corkscrews, a little known hobby at the time.  Through some series of coincidences, Dr. Bernard Watney, a physician working for the Guinness Brewery in London and Dr. Homer Babbidge, a professor at the Hartford Graduate School, Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.A. got together and decided to form a corkscrew collectors club.   They recruited a number of others and set the club's maximum membership at 25.   The next year it was expended to 35 and then again to the present limit of 50.   At this first meeting, officers' duties were defined and members elected.  The association's structure has stayed constant during its quarter of century.  The 25-th year celebrations were held in London, England, where all this began in 1974.

1974 October 1. The ICCA was officially founded this day with the first meeting organized and hosted by Dr. Bernard Watney and held at the Guinness Brewery, London, England. This inaugural meeting was followed annually by meetings held in other places and hosted by different addicts and the venues alternated generally between North America and Europe:
- Again, in 1975, the AGM was hosted by Dr. Watney at the Guinness Brewery, London England.
- The 1976 meeting was hosted by Brother Timothy at Mont La Salle, Napa, California.
- 1977 saw addicts in England again hosted by Dr. Watney.
- And the 1978 meeting was hosted by Alf Erickson and Peter McLennen at the Lauderdale Yacht Club, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S.A.
- The, in 1979 they were back to England hosted by Dr. Watney again.
- Then, the 1980 AGM was arranged by Dr. Babbidge at the Hartford Graduate Centre, Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.A.
- 1981 was hosted by Dr. Watney and Evan Perry at the Horsham Town Hall, West Sussex, England.
- The AGM of 1982 was hosted by Don Morway at Seven Pines Estate, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
- 1983 was the year when other members began to host meetings this year was hosted by Francis Hutchinson at the Royal Yacht Squadron, Cowes, Isle of Wight, England.
- 1984 had the first one held on the continent, in France, at the Hotel de L'Univers, Tours, France. The group stayed in Europe for the following year.
- So the 1985 affair was hosted by Heinz ten Doornkaat at the Excelsior Hotel, Cologne, Germany.
- The 1986 AGM was hosted by Brother Timothy and Jack Preiss at the Sheraton Hotel, Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, California.
- In 1987 the meeting went to Italy, hosted by Paolo DeSanctis at the Abbey of Coltebuono in Tuscany.
- The 1988 event returned to North America, it was held in Canada for the first time, hosted by Claude Hardy at the Hotel Chateau Champlain, Montreal, Canada.
- After a five year absence, the meeting returned to England in 1989 and was hosted by the English members at Reform Club, Pallmall, London, England.
- As Italy was so much fun, Paolo DeSanctis, Maurizio Fantoni and Piero Giacomini hosted the 1990 event at the Metropole Hotel, Venice, Italy, but the tour started in Zurich, Switzerland where Hans Seleger hosted the first day.
- Back to the U.S. in 1991 where the meeting was hosted by Don Bull at the Beekman Arms Inn, Rhinebeck, New York.
- The 1992 AGM was hosted by Per Ekman and Bjorn Bendigtsen at Holmenkollen Hotel, Oslo, Norway.
- In 1993 the ICCA Annual Meeting returned to Canada and was hosted by Ron MacLean and Joe Paradi at Westin Harbour Castle Hotel, Toronto, Ontario with visits to the Seagram's Museum, Niagara Falls and other points of interest.
- Portugal was the next stop in 1994, hosted by Adolfo Roque at Hotel Altis, Lisbon, Portugal
- The U.S. meeting held in 1995 was arranged by Fred Andrew, Michael Sharp and Jack Bandy in California
- The year 1996 saw the meeting in Spain, hosted by Xavier Garcia-Ruano in Barcelona, Spain
- In 1997 the addicts assembled in Avignon, France where the meeting was hosted by Yves Rousset-Rouard
- The 1998 AGM was the 25-th assembly, the ICCA's Silver Anniversary, was held in London, hosted by three members: Frank Ellis, Bernard Masson and Gregory Taylor.
- Philadelphia was the venue for the 1999 AGM.  Members Howard Luterman and Bert Giulian hosted the meeting with participation from Don Morway.
- Wartburg, Germany was the Centennial AGM venue.  The year 2000 AGM week was hosted by Dr. Wolfgang Händel and his Go-With, Kirsten with assistance from Klaus Biermann and Klaus Pumpenmeier.
- Miami Beach, Florida, U.S.A. was the venue for the first AGM in the new millennium, 2001.  It was hosted by Ken and Marcie Hark.  The uninvited guest was Hurricane Michelle.
- Maastricht, the Netherlands was the site of the excellent AGM for 2002 very ably organized and hosted by Ferd and Mariet Peters.  Corkscrews, wonderful sites and fellowship characterized this meeting.
- Roanoke and Smith Mountain Lake in the U.S. was the venue for a fabulous AGM for 2003 hosted by Bonnie and Don Bull.  The highlight was the collection at Don Bull's house, but the various side-trips were worth the visit on their own.
-Stockholm was the venue for the 2004 AGM.  Buster Berntson and Per Ekman organized this outstanding meeting.  An excellent collection of Scandinavian corkscrews were displayed with most of the Scandinavian members contributing their best pieces.
- For the 2005 AGM and for the first time its history, the ICCA had partially taken over the Princess cruise ship for a trip to Alaska.  The ICCA invited all other corkscrew clubs to participate and Fred O'Leary, the organizer for this AGM had initiated a comprehensive "Scrue University" with many presentations and learning opportunities for corkscrew addicts.  The exquisite trip from Vancouver, Canada to Alaska, U.S.A. will not be forgotten by anyone who was there.
- The 2006 AGM went "Down Under" to Sydney, Australia - arranged by Nick Hunt, a fabulous time was had by everyone.  While it was a long trip, it was well worth it.  We had marveled at the natural beauty of this great Country and its modern face as represented by the Sydney Opera House - and much-much more!
- For the first time, the 2007 AGM was held in two Countries, arranged by two addicts - Dr. Wolfgang Händel (Hand-Right) and Dr. Joseph C. Paradi (Pro-Right).  Wolfgang arranged for a wonderful view of Vienna, from the Lippizaners, to the Castle, from the Wiener Snitzel to the bratwurst.  Food, entertainment and wine were all extraordinary.  The train journey in the Kaiser's coach topped it all off.  But this was just the first half, then Joe took over and from the beauty of Budapest straddling the Danube to the hot Hungarian dancers, we had food, drinks, opera, a taste of what communism was all about, the magnificent Parliament and shopping galore.  The event was an outstanding success and all loved it (the Portuguese especially).

Language

The "official" language of the ICCA is English, although there are a number of Europeans who communicate in French with each other and French speaking North Americans when their English gives out.

2007-2008 Officers

Fred Kincaid
Right
P.O. Box 39
Orwell, Vermont, 05760 U.S.A.
e-mail: fred@fredcork.com

Fred O'Leary
Chief Correspondent
6149 Shadygrove Drive
Cupertino, CA  95014
U.S.A.

Howard Luterman, Treasurer
e-mail:
lutescrew@aol.com

Jack Bandy
Newsletter Editor
e-mail:
bandy-jack@msn.com

Past Rights

Brother Timothy
JUST-RIGHT

Dr. Bernard Watney
START-RIGHT

Dr. Homer Babbidge
ALL-RIGHT

Donald Morway
MOR-RIGHT

Robert P. Nugent
NU-RIGHT

Perry A. Howland
HOW-RIGHT

Richard Dennis
SPEND-RIGHT

Dr. David Bradshaw
TRY-RIGHT

Donald Minzenmayer
HOUS-RIGHT

Donald Bull
MIRTH-RIGHT

Ron MacLean
CAN(e)-RIGHT

Dr. Joseph C. Paradi
PRO-RIGHT

Helgir Solheim
SOL-RIGHT

Dr. Wolfgang Händel
HAND-RIGHT

Dr. Bert Gulian
READ-RIGHT