Art Deco Penguin Corkscrews

March of the Art Deco penguins!

Here is a group of very rare Machine Age corkscrews in my barware collection, which were manufactured by The Dura Company of Toledo, Ohio. These were part of a giftware line that Dura did during the 1930's. These are circa 1933. Kurt Rettich was the industrial designer of these corkscrews (patent pictured).

The cylindrical guards are made of bakelite, and they are marked "Dura" on the bottom. These barware items have a streamline feel to them. The metal part of the corkscrews are made out of "Dura Metal," which is an alloy similar to chrome. I've seen the bases made in these three colors of bakelite (red, black, and green), with black being the most common. However, Dura also used other colors of bakelite (white and yellow) in some of their other giftware items, so those colors might exist as well.