Eccentric Contraptions #0035

The Collector: Maurice Collins, East London (UK)

The Collection: Bizarre, weird and unusual manufactured devices, used in everyday life between the years of the Great Exhibition of 1851 to the Festival of Britain 1951.

 The story behind the collection…

I still find it hard to define exactly what it is that I collect. The most fundamental definition is that the items in the collection were produced to solve everyday problems, to make a task simpler, quicker or easier.

Just a little research opened for me amazing and interesting aspects of how people over the last 100 years used technology in their everyday life, those little innovations that had been forgotten or never manufactured, or perhaps had evolved into the many gadgets and contraptions we use today, without ever thinking how our forbears solved problems 100 years ago. I resolved to try to collect the minutia of everyday life, those ingenious products that attempted to solve a human difficulty, be it in the kitchen, home, office or leisure activity.

I did need to set some parameters to the collection, I had to define how I would select my purchases. As far as I can now retrospectively work out there were some subconscious rules: the item should be solving a problem in an unusual way; would, if possible, be powered and have a working element of some description; would have an aesthetic quality or was so outrageous that it just had to be a part of the collection. My collection totals over 1500 items, from tiny patented cuff links, which were also used by card sharps to hide the ace, to full sized washing machines and vacuum cleaners.

Glasses with lights c. 1920.

Fire blower and face shade 1880-95

The principle of the development of the method of propulsion is woven into thousands of innovations from the past, can you imagine a ‘Teasmade’ powered by clockwork? In my collection is the first mechanical, clockwork driven maker of a cuppa, as you wake up. Simply, you set the time on the alarm clock, when the bell rings, a lever pushes another lever which causes a match to strike, which then lights an oil fire, when the kettle boils, a steel plate cuts across the flames putting them out, and the water is poured from the kettle into the teapot alongside the machine, perhaps one of the most dangerous fire hazards in the collection!

 

Teasmade c.1902

My pride and joy are two of these clockwork teasmades from 1902. I managed to lay my hands on one years ago and for a long time thought it was the only one in Britain, but then another one cropped up at an auction. I just had to buy it as I couldn’t bear anyone else owning it.

Although the gadgets themselves are somewhat past any useful application, in many cases the principles are sound. In fact I have used them to great effect helping young entrepreneurs to brainstorm new products and potential business ideas. The fact that patents were registered and the information is still obtainable gives a vast research resource to establish the use and background of the contraptions in my collection. The records go back to 1836 in the USA and in England, Ireland and Wales from 1852.

Egg Weigher c.1920

Iron and travel tea set, c.1930

Over the years the objects have been featured in many prestigious venues spanning the country, including the British Library in London. It has gained much press coverage also, including the BBC news, Channel 4 and Sky news, the Daily Telegraph, the Daily Mail etc. There’s also a great short video interview at the British Library here.

The collection has also been available for hire since 2003 to National and European venues, to enormous sucess and with all proceeds made from hiring the collection being donated to learning disability charities - including Kith and Kids (that Maurice helped set up).

Maurice's website:Victorian Gadgets.

Images copyrighted and used with the kind permission of Maurice Collins.

Maurice's Books: