The full-size leaflet can be downloaded from Flickr.
References and Further info
Collectors can be great sources of encyclopaedic knowledge on trivial things. In this case, it was Sheridan Parsons, and her website www.teasmade.uk. She is working on a book on the Teasmade, which I can't wait to read.
When it comes to working out how much things were worth in the past it can be hard when it comes to currencies that changed their form over time - like the British Pound Stirling. The UK's National Archive website has a currency convertor, which can convert the value (in pounds/shillings/pence) from 1270 to 2017 to its value in 2017. For its value since 2017, I suggest putting the 2017 value into this inflation calculator.
There is also - www.measuringworth.com
For more on the UK's pre-decimal currency - https://www.retrowow.co.uk/retro_britain/old_money/old_money.html
If there was a gadget that can be pointed at to sum up the
British, it’ll have to be the Goblin Teasmade. It’s an eccentric alarm clock
designed to make something many Brits want to have first thing in the morning –
a cup of tea. It’s a Heath Robinson-like contraption packaged into a
convenient, stylish, and consumer-friendly form. First manufactured in 1936,
Goblin made a number of models of “Teasmade" (their trademark) over the
decades. They were popular in the mid-20th century, with over two
million British homes owning one by the 1970s. But their popularity waned soon
afterward, as more homes got central heating installed. Despite this,
tea-making alarm clocks are still been made, as of this publication.
Pre-History
The first known tea-making alarm clock was a device invented
by Charles Maynard Walker. His “Early Riser’s Friend” was written about in an
article in Work Magazine (issue 131) in 1891.
The first commercially-made tea-making alarm clock was a
design invented by Albert Edward Richardson. Gun smith Frank Clarke bought the
rights to it and filed a patent for “A New or Improved Apparatus Whereby a Cup
of Tea or Coffee is Automatically Made or Other Liquids or Substances are
Heated” in 1902 – and another for a “Time-controlling mechanism” in 1903.
Sold in 1904 by the Automatic Water Boiler Company, Frank’s “Clock that makes tea” is quite an eccentric mechanical marvel. When activated (minutes before a set time) it ignites a match, which ignites a methylated spirit-fuelled flame, which boils water in a copper kettle. When the water is presumed boiled, according to how long it’s on the flame (it had no way of knowing how hot the water is), the kettle is tipped over to fill a teapot, which also rings the bell.
Goblin
In 1901 Hubert Cecil Booth created the first ever vacuum
cleaner and, in 1902, started a business leasing their use – The British Vacuum
Cleaner and Engineering Company. BVC gained a Royal Warrant when a vacuum was
employed to clean the carpet in Westminster Abbey before Edward VII’s
coronation. By 1910 their large, built-in vacuums were in use in many
significant buildings in London, including Buckingham Palace, the Houses of
Parliament, the Savoy hotel and the Gaiety Theatre.
In 1921 BVC made their first domestic upright model, similar
to vacuums today. In 1926 they decided to rename their whole range of domestic
vacuum cleaners with the trade name “Goblin.” The story goes that the Hubert
got the idea from hearing something the wife of a company managing director
said. She said that the cleaner “was goblin’ up the dirt”. In 1959, BVC changed
its name to Goblin (BVC) Ltd.
William Hermann Brenner Thornton (1899-1976)
Born in Brooklyn, New York, William Thornton one of six
children of an English family that emigrated to Canada and then moved to America
in 1894-5. The family returned to England somewhere between 1901 and 1906. The
family was in hard times in the 1910s, which may have contributed to William
joining the crew of the TS Arethusa, a training ship for destitute boys of good
character for the Navy. Following his brother, in 1915, he joined the Navy.
When he turned 18, in 1917, he was an Ordinary Seaman serving on HMS Clematis.
He later served on HMS Victory I in 1918. Incontinence of urine invalided him
out of the Navy in 1919, not before he earned medals for his services during
World War I.
In 1932 William constructed a plywood prototype for a
tea-making alarm clock. In 1933 William submitted a patent for an “Apparatus
for making hot beverages.” In 1934 he submitted another patent for the “Making
of hot beverages,” which became the prototype for Goblin’s first Teasmade. He
continued fling patents, mostly for kettles and automatic tea makers until
1974.
Goblin bought William Thornton’s patent and created their first Teasmade in 1936.
The First Goblin Teasmade
“Here is a twentieth century luxury in its most friendly and
companionable aspect.” – 1936 Launch leaflet
They were two version of it – an Alarm Model and a Day
Model.
For young folk unfamiliar with pre-decimal British
currency, before 1971 one pound was made up of 20 shillings, and each shilling
was made up of 12 pence. This adds up to 240 pence per pound.
The Day Model has no clock and is activated by a switch on
the top. It was made for uses outside the bedroom, such as the office or
lounge. It was cheaper (£3 15s 0d in 1936) but it didn’t sell well, leading to
its discontinuation within a year. Because of this, the Day Model is now a rare
collector’s item.
The Alarm Model was more popular (for obvious reasons),
despite costing more (£5 5s 0d in 1936).
Made of plywood
Chrome-plated kettle, with
patented element.
This Teasmade was sold in a choice
of three colours - cream, green or blue.
lampshade “of a pleasing and modern design”
Goblin Electric Alarm Clock – “gives you Greenwich Time
always and needs no winding, regulation or any attention except when the Alarm
is set.”
Optional matching earthenware tea set.
Optional colour-matching tray
For an extra 10s 6d, the Teasmade can come with a colour-matching
tray, two earthenware cups and saucers, a cream jug and a sugar basin. A
complete Alarm Model Teasmade cost the equivalent of over £300 in 2020.
Later Teasmades
World War II stopped production in 1939, only starting up
again in 1947, when the model D20 was introduced. Goblin made over 34 different
models of Teasmade in about 40 years. But many of them are variations of a few
designs, making many believe they only produced a few models.
The ”D” is to denote where it was made. Goblin owned a
number of factories across the UK and Goblin needed an easy way to identify the
source of their products for accounting a service record purposes. The “D”
Teasmades were made in Leatherhead, Surrey.
In 1967 Teasmade production moved to a newly extended
factory in Castlereagh, Northern Ireland. As Northern Ireland was a touchy
subject, Goblin needed a way to indicate their products were made there without
something obvious. They decided to use “8,” as a reference to the “eight
counties” that made up Ulster.
Teasmade Trademark
According to family legend, the “Teasmade” name originates
from William Thornton’s childhood. When kids played outside their mothers would
shout out from their doors “Tea’s made.”
Goblin BVC registered “Teasmade” in 1947, despite the
chairman wanting to change the name to “Cheerywake.”
In the early-1970s Goblin BVC was taken over by Birmingham
Sound Reproducers (who made record players). Along with Bulpitt and Sons (owners
of Swan brand appliances) and Judge (who made kitchenware), the combination
became BSR Housewares. In this arrangement Swan obtained the Teasmade trademark
from Goblin, officially owning it from 1988 to 1991.
In 1988 Swan was acquired by French appliance maker Groupe
Moulinex. Swan’s parent, Bulpitt and Sons, dissolved a year later. From 1991 to
2000 the Teasmade trademark was owned by Moulinex Swan Holdings Ltd. Then in
2000 it passed to Moulinex UK Limited.
In 2000 Groupe Moulinex merged (reluctantly) with El.Fi
(owners of Brandt appliances). In 2001 Groupe Moulinex filed for bankruptcy
protection. A month later, French cookware consortium SEB Groupe bought
Moulinex – and British retailer Littlewoods bought the Swan brand, and
therefore, the Teasmade trademark. Littlewoods (now part of The Very Group) still
own the trademark, as of 2020.
Goblin, on the other hand, was disposed of by BSR in 1984
and split into two. The vacuum cleaner side was sold to the Shop-Vac
Corporation in the US. The rest became Goblin Ltd, who were later bought by
Morphy Richards. Glen Dimplex of Ireland bought Morphy Richards in 1985.
The last Goblin-branded teamaker ever made (not a Teasmade,
as they didn’t own that trademark anymore) was the Teamatic 10610 of 1994,
whose production ended in 1998.
Who Had a Teasmade?
To begin with, the Teasmade was an odd obscure device.
Goblin had difficulty convincing salesmen in the electrical trade to
demonstrate them, despite having no issues demonstrating their vacuum cleaners.
Their reluctance led to many Teasmades ending up on the back selves of store
rooms. But Goblin persisted, having them demonstrated at every exhibition they
could find. Goblin sent out a team of 250 demonstrators into department stores
and electrical stores across the UK.
The Teasmade eventually became mainstream. TV games shows, looking out for inexpensive novelties to give as prizes, found the Teasmade, exposing it to millions of TV viewers. It became a great default competition prize. In 1969 British Rail ordered a thousand Teasmades to be presentation awards. The Teasmade became one of those devices that people bought as gifts for others. The Teasmade proved useful to early risers, such as doctors. Hotels bought them, as they provided a luxury experience to guests while saving their staff from extra work in the morning.
By the 1970s Goblin claimed that over two million homes
owned a Teasmade. In 1972 they announced that they captured 85% of the teamaker
market. By then, weekly sales were in the five digits and they began work
developing a “Coffeemade.” But it wasn’t to last. One reason for their
popularity was that, in 1970, only 25% of British homes had central heating,
making them very useful. But by the mid-70s half of British homes got central
heating. The need for instant heat from a freshly made cup of tea in the
morning was diminishing. Since then, the teamaking alarm clock has become a
novelty idea with little useful purpose, except for the few who like tea in the
morning and have little time or ability to make it manually.
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