This first meeting of the International Correspondence of Corkscrew Addicts (ICCA) was held October 1, 1974. It was organized and hosted by Dr. Bernard Watney and held at the Guinness Brewery, London, England. It was decreed at this meeting that the leader of the group is to be known as "Right." Anyone would rather be Right than President. Brother Timothy was elected as the first Right of the ICCA. It was also decreed that there would be a Chaplain and a Chief Correspondent. Brother Tim was also elected Chaplain and Dr. Watney was elected Chief Correspondent.
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.
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. And of course now, the new ICCA Auction site. The group is very closely knit, many are dedicated to research and advancing the knowledge about corkscrews.
