COMPLIMENTARY COPY
Published Weekly By Joel Sater Publications www.antiquesandauctionnews.net Figural Champagne bottle swizzle with “Champagne Dry Mantle” label. 1951. Bottle is only 2.5 inches tall. $100 to $125.
VOL. 42, NO. 52 FRIDAY DECEMBER 30, 2011
Champagne - A New Year’s Favorite Is A Favorite With Collectors!
By Donald A. Bull hampagne has long been an exciting and glamorous l i b a t i o n . Champagne is the drink of choice on New Year’s Eve and for special occasions with weddings being the first that comes to mind. The ceremony of popping the cork and pouring the golden, effervescent fluid is unsurpassed by any other drink. For the regular Champagne drinker as well the casual enthusiast, collecting Champagne memorabilia and tools can be a pleasurable
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Ashtray advertising “Champagne Paul Becker Reims” (founded 1870). 3 inches by 4.5 inches. Courtesy of Milt Becker.
experience. There are a wide variety of objects to search for. Champagne houses enlisted the services of artists to design advertising for them in the late 19th century. These gorgeous works of art can be found on posters, postcards, billboards, fans, and more. The appeal of Champagne to the ladies was certainly a motivation to use the images on folding fans for not only a gentle wave to cool, but to also do a little coquettish flirting. Art on fans includes waiters pouring Champagne, girls raising their glasses in toasts, clowns, bottles, couples dining and dancing, and much more. They are a top choice for the Champagne collector for the colorful display they can make. There are many themes on
early Champagne related post- stir the bubbles out of Champagne cards. Animals and elves are fre- (why would anyone want to do that?!). In 1955, Alexis Lichine wrote in Wines of France “Everyone who loves Champagne is shocked by the current ridiculous fad for swizzle sticks, t h o s e abominations which allow the uncomprehending to twirl all the bubbles out of sparkling wine.” For ages bottle labels collectors have soaked labels off of beer, wine, and soda bottles, torn labels off of packing crates, and preserved labels from jars of condiments, jams, and the like. Champagne bottle labels can also find a home q u e n t l y with the labelologist. Often found popping corks. “Greetings dated with the vintage, with from (town name)” cards picturing effort, one can find a whole from a single buildings and other scenes in the series Champagne district of France are Champagne house. Other categories of very popular. Cards with men drinking Champagne, children Champagne memorabilia for fetching bottles, and pretty women the collector to consider include desk accessories, are other often found themes. For drinking and dining, the tobacco related items, tip collector can find glasses, trays, chocolate molds decanters, bottle cradles and hold- (yes, they come in the ers, advertising salt and pepper shape of Champagne botshakers, tastevins, toothpick hold- tles), games, corks, coasters, and Champagne swizzles. The ers, posters, prints, trade latter consists of several balls on cards, decanters, bin the end of wires, which are tele- labels, and sheet music. scoped out of a handle and used to Who wouldn’t want the “Champagne Polka” sheet music? Or “Take the Sparkling Wine Away,” “Champagne Waltz,” or “Champagne and Oysters”? In Champagne “Hardware” one can find bottle resealers, corkscrews, levers, easers, knives, nippers and grippers, swords for Sabrage, and taps. These are all tools for getting to the bubbly or storing the bubbly. Many were used for advertising purposes by Champagne houses as well as distributors. One of the most fascinating of these Tin menu holder advertising “Jean Lallemant Champagne.”
Pique Nique, 1950, advertising print. Courtesy of Champagne Ayala, France.
tools is the tap. Champagne has long been considered by the medical profession as a special kind of medicine that would cure all sorts of ills. Various
driven by the pressure. The cork is a mushroom shape item held down by metal wires tied to the bottle neck’s lip to keep the cork from exploding out of the bottle. The tap is screwed or driven into the cork with the wires intact. When the tip is below the bottom of the cork, the valve on the tap can be opened to draw off the desired amount. Closing the valve will then keep the Champagne fresh and bubbly. Thus a small portion medi c a l journals suggested
Advertising Fan. Dog with a bottle of Heidsieck Dry Monopole Brut. Marked DRAEGER IMP. Courtesy of Rodolphe Roger.
Champagne as a stimulant and a restorative, for overcoming exhaustion, for controlling hiccoughs, and for the “Gouty, Rheumatic & Diabetic.” This was reported in the January, 1911 issue of the Buffalo Medical Journal: “Moët and Chandon’s White Seal Champagne is a delightful dinner A Champagne beverbottle shape age, and corkscrew with cap is a suitable lifter in the present to make handle. during this season of good cheer. Besides, it is one of the purest of sparkling wines, made from selected grapes, grown on a proper soil, and hence is adapted for use by the sick whenever such a remedy is indi-
cated. A cork tap keeps it fresh, even when used only by the teaspoonful, and also prevents waste, thus rendering its use economical.” All taps have a pipe with holes at the sharp tip to allow the liquid to come out of t h e bottle,
can be administered to the sick or a large portion can be drawn off for a drink without wasting the entire bottle. Beginning in the early 19th century, inventors came up with numerous designs and functions for taps making the collector’s hunt for the many variations a challenge. Today’s Champagne bottles can usually be found with the wire twisted at the bottom of the foil wrap. To open the bottle, one typically untwists the wire, rips off the foil, and pushes against the base of the mushroom shape cork to a loud pop and, perhaps, a little bubbling over. It would help to hold a napkin over the cork! Early opening ceremonies would be much more colorful using some of the availChampagne tap. French, with glass base, hand painted. Courtesy of D a v i d e Chionna.
able tools. Nippers or hooks were used to cut or break the wire. A knife with a curved hook was used to cut the foil. Easers and levers were used to gently pry the cork up. Or a pliers-like cork grip some of which resemble nutcrackers could be used to grasp the cork and gently twist it out of the bottle. Corkscrews are often shown in pictures of Champagne bottle opening but the aforementioned are far better, safer ways to get to the bubbly. Here’s to your health!!! The book, Champagne Collectibles by Donald A. Bull & Joseph C. Paradi (Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 2011) has over 1250 color photos depicting over 1800 items. The 336 page oversize book is a heavyweight at five and one-half pounds. The information and the objects with their value ranges will astound and excite all Champagne enthusiasts. (More Photos on page 2)