Did you know that cork legs were not made out of cork? Instead, according to one story, cork legs got their name from John Cork who invented a popular artificial leg in 1810 that replaced the peg leg.
However, there is another claim that artificial legs were called cork legs because many of them were made in Cork, Ireland.
Whatever the case may be, past newspapers were filled with reports and stories about people, and animals, with cork legs. Here are a few of the most interesting reports from the archives.
1. Burglar Tools
According to the following newspaper report in 1915, a particular burglar always had the tools of his trade on him:
“Sheriff James A. Corey removed an abbreviated set of burglar tools, a revolver, cartridges, dirk and blackjack from the cork leg of a prisoner arrested for burglary.” [Source: The day book. (Chicago, Ill.), 06 Jan. 1915.]
2. Didn’t Trust Banks
In 1912, it was reported that a restaurant owner did not trust banks so he made his deposits into his hollow leg. An article tells us:
“Secretive and peculiar in all his habits [the man] never disclosed this eccentricity to his most intimate friends. Recently he was taken suddenly ill, and after a hurried consultation by physicians an immediate operation was decided to be the only means of saving the man’s life. For this it was necessary that [he] be brought to the Frederick City Hospital.
“Before being moved he pleaded for a minute’s conversation with a friend who was called to his bedside. Unstrapping his cork leg, [the man] entrusted it to the care of his friend, telling him that it contained all his possessions, with the exception of property.
“[The man] died, and $1,100 in bank notes of large denominations, gold and silver was found in the cork leg.” [Source: The Washington herald. (Washington, D.C.), 01 Aug. 1912.]
3. Took Wife’s Cork Leg
Meanwhile, in 1914, an Arkansas husband did not want his wife attending the picture shows. To prevent her from going against his will, he took her cork leg and hid it from her. [Source: Carson City daily appeal. (Carson City, Nev.), 14 July 1914.]
4. Her Husband’s Cork Leg
On the other side of the gender equation, an Illinois wife in 1913 hid her husband’s cork leg. She was divorcing him and needed him to attend court the next morning. To prevent him from slipping out the door before the court case, she hid his leg until it was time to leave. [Source: The day book. (Chicago, Ill.), 16 July 1913.]
5. Safety Deposit Box for Inmates
Now here is a doozy! A Kentucky inmate allowed other inmates to store valuables in his cork leg! Here’s what the 1909 article had to say:
“For ten years the cork leg of Charles Knifely, a convict in the Kentucky penitentiary here, was the depository, or safety vault, for the money and treasure of the convicts. Warden E.E. Mudd discovered this vault only a few days ago, and since then the circulation of money within the prison walls has decreased to nothing. Previous to the discovery, there was plenty of money in circulation in the penitentiary, and this money was the source of many fights. It was used principally in the crap games and card games that cannot be stopped, no matter how vigilant the guards may be.
“When the cell of Knifely was entered, and he was told to turn over his cork leg for search, he faltered, but before he had the opportunity to get the money out of the cork leg and hide it, one of the trusty convicts grabbed the leg out of his hand and turned it over to a guard.” [Source: Hopkinsville Kentuckian. (Hopkinsville, Ky.), 31 July 1909.]
6. Wood Leg Trends
Here is a fascinating article from 1915 that shows us just how creative some men got with their wooden and cork legs:
“F.L. Vandergrift said that every man who has a wooden leg has an uncontrollable desire to fraternize with other men who have wooden legs. Once when he was sitting in a park at Las Vegas, four men, strangers to one another, entered. All had wooden legs. They got together and in five minutes were trying on one another’s legs. Two of them traded. A man he met had all the battles he had fought painted on his wooden leg. Another painted his wooden leg in deep mourning when his wife died. A friend of his uses his cork leg as a life preserver when bathing. Another utilizes his as a propeller. A vain man he met had his wooden leg tattooed. In San Francisco a wooden-legged friend showed Mr. Vandergrift a national magazine published in the interests of wooden legs, called the Wooden Leg.” [Source: The day book. (Chicago, Ill.), 29 March 1915.]
7. Dog With a Cork Leg
Finally, a story published in 1897, Ohio, tells us about a fox terrier who received a cork leg after losing a leg. According to one report:
“…the fox terrier was the happiest thing on the South Side. The leg fits perfectly, and is held in place by a light harness.
“The dog now seems able to run as fast as ever, and now the rats in the alley, that since the accident have been in the habit of playing tag with the fox terrier, remain trembling in their holes.” [The Dakota chief. (Gann Valley, Buffalo County, S.D.), 04 Nov. 1897.]
