Photos: What gadgets were the Victorians using?

Self pouring teapots, periscope glasses and fire grenades...

By Tim Ferguson, 14 August 2008 15:17

The British Library in London is playing host to an exhibition of gadgets and technology from the Victorian era and early 20th century.

The collection belongs to collector and author Maurice Collins OBE and is promoting the Business and Intellectual Property centre at the library.

This is a forerunner of your trusty Outlook calendar. It's a memorandum clock, which indicates when a business appointment has finished.

The device (from 1890) uses a bone note with the relevant person's name on it. When the allotted time runs out, the note is dropped and an alarm goes off.

The label by the clock adds: "Also used in houses of ill repute."

Photo credit: Tim Ferguson

Comments

There are 2 comments. Join the discussion

  1. 1. Herbert Longwish-Prantey

    Are you sure the self pouring teapot uses a vacuum when the lid is pushed down? I suspect it either uses pressure to force the tea out or perhaps a picture of something very nasty on the bottom of the lid scares the tea out of the spout.

  2. 2. anonymous

    Comment to Photo no. 3: how can vacuum force anything out? Vacuum sucks in, and it is the pressure which pushes out.

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