RARE CAST CORKSCREW WITH REPLACEABLE WORM - EMPIRE

This is  very hard to find corkscrew from the Empire Stove Company of Troy, New York, USA. with a cast metal frame and replaceable worm. 

It is very similar to a Thomas Curley corkscrew marked T Curley Troy,NY & Patd. Mar. 22 84 cast into handle (SCReWcode SLc030) .  That patent has never been found - see O'Leary Corkscrews page 67.  

No one knows whether it was produced by Curley or the Empire Stove Company -  they were located only a few blocks apart - it's likely we will never know.  A good guess is it was the stove company since they were casting many other parts.   NOTE - Joe Young, a knowledgeable corkscrew collector, researched Curley corkscrews in 1988 including this piece. He found an advertisement in the 1892 Troy Observer by the Empire Portable Forge Company of Lansingburgh, New York which lists their products including  "Curley's Cork- Screws - you turn the handle - the screw does the pulling".  So we now know who produced it - although it looks like a Curley - it does not include the Curley patent idea.

The EMPIRE is substantially rarer than any of the Curley pieces.  Marked EMPIRE in the casting only.

The difference with the Curley piece is that the EMPIRE has an open ended handle and a replaceable worm - while the Curley piece has a release mechanism like other Curely pieces.

SCReWcode: SNc040

Very good condition - slight bend in the worm - easily fixed - some minor loss of plating.