#teasmade

[preventthefuture]

The most eccentric of British household luxuries.

[petermorwood]

Yet more flintlock-powered weirdness...

...to accompany the flintlock tinderboxes and gun-lamps shown here.

@man-and-atom added this reply:

In the field of "bedside flintlock mechanisms", either the British Museum or the V&A has an alarm clock where the alarm was the explosion of a charge of gunpowder.

First thought: "Whaaat?"

Second thought: "But of course..."

Third thought: "PICTURES!"

*****

This one seems fairly simple:

As far as I can make out there'd be just (!) the snap of the lock, a cloud of impossible-to-ignore-the-smell smoke, and the lid popping up to reveal the clock-face.

Later designs seem to have become standardised as a light-up alarm.

The flintlock action not only produces that snap and cloud of smoke, it also ignites a candle which then pops up.

At a guess, the inside of the lid would be kept brightly polished as a reflector.

Engraved or plain, the mechanism alone meant these were elaborate, expensive contraptions, so not for everyone - and anyway, I'm sure an elderly retired officer just LOVED being woken by a scent with such delightful associations.

I love the smell of black powder in the morning. It's the smell of...

*****

Ending on a lighter (hah!) note, @dduane looked at this and asked, "Did they have flintlock tea-makers?"

It turns out that no, they didn't; but it can't have been for want of trying because well over 100 years ago (1902) an inventor came up with this:

Once again, as far as I can make out it worked like this: the alarm-clock worked a spring, which struck a match, which lit a spirit-burner under the kettle, which started to heat the water.

A few minutes later the alarm-clock rang its bell, waking the sleeper who, when the kettle was properly boiling, tilted it so the water went into the teapot.

About 30 years later the first electrical Teasmade was invented:

Here we go: alarm clock turns kettle on, water boils, pressure forces water into teapot, kettle on a rocker plate gets lighter so loss of weight switches it off, now-heavy teapot on other side of rocker plate starts a pre-set brewing timer which when done switches on the light and an alarm sound.

Simple.

Later models were much less fussy in appearance, but worked in exactly the same way:

My parents, of course, never bothered with a gadget to make their early morning tea.

All they needed was a regular alarm-clock...

...and me.

[cetaceous]

A Teasmade - Automatic Tea-Making Machine The Automatic Water Boiler Co., Birmingham, England, 1902-1910 patented by Frank Clarke of Birmingham in 1902 the risks of fire or scalding were considerable... 'Secret Life of the Home' Gallery, The Science Museum, London the gallery will close permanently in June, 2024 image credit: Jennie Hills/Science Museum Group via: The Guardian

[infintenonagon]

she Tom on my Scott til Im in Weldon Springs. Im in Gävle. Im in the abandon city of Pripyat. i a inside one of the Inchindown oil tanks. I am off to the Arctic for 3 weeks. I am not inside a fusion reactor. Im in hull. I am in Morroco. I am in Disney World. Im in Resolute. Im in an airplane bathroom. I am in an unpowered glider. I am in Iceland. I am standing in Europort. Im in the British Museum. I !m FLyInG a FEw ThouSand FeET OvER LInColnSHIrE. I am at platform nine and three quarters. I am under the English Channel. I am still in the arctic. Im in Gibraltar. Im on Marlybone Road. Im on top of a hill. Im on 50th Street. I am squinting into the sun. I am on the Swanscombe Peninsula. Im in Swindon. I am in Baton Rouge. I am in Baarle-Hertog. I am outside the Bank of England. Im in Cape May. Im at the Computer History Museum. I am about to cross a road. Im in Bristol. I am at the summit of Mount Evans. Im on my way back from the Arctic. I am at Space Camp. I am exactly thirty miles away from the intersection of Bervely Boulevard and North La Cinega Boulevard. I am about to play bubble football. I am in Greenwich. I am putting myself at risk of being sued. I am in New Orleans. I am one of the tallest wind farms in Europe. I am at a party. Im at the Eureka Weather Station. I am in the small village of Jelling. I am with Norm. I am back with Norm. Last time I was outside this pud with Norm he taught me how to strangle someone. I am in the English countryside near Canterbury, and this is a level crossing. Im on the 19th floor of Once Canada Square in London and that is a gorgeous sunset. This is an Ogham stone. This is a each pendant. this is a teasmade. this is London's cable car. This is a packet and bottle of freeze-dried urine. Behind me is Lake Constance. It is a big lake. This is a shipping container. This is a Soviet T-34 Battle Tank. This is a dead man. This is a bottle of Dasani. This is the mixed reality lab. This is a natural spring. This is launch pad 39. This is the control room. This is Notre Dame. This used to be RAF Gravely. This is the Thames. This is the Kilogram. Up there is the Bridge. This is a driver-less vehicle. This is non-brewed condiment. These are the solar power towers. That is the Angel of the North. This is the Ilulissat ice fjord. This is Olkiluoto. This is Bruges. This is Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. Welcome to the town of Asbestos. Welcome to Calapatria. Welcome to a town that doesnt exist. Welcome to Wales. The road behind me is closed. This is going to be a fairly disappointing video. I am back in the UK, and I have a cold.

[fragariavescana]

> Not knowing what a teasmade is

ALL OF THESE REQUIRE GETTING OUT OF BED

[middaydolomite]

Always the Teasmade, never the tea.

[moriganstrongheart]

Watch the full-length timelapse here: https://bit.ly/3KyGet8

Always The Teasmade, Never The Tease © 2018 by Doctor Turtle is licensed under CC BY 4.0

[saldontdoit]

alarm, and alarm with tea

[crapgameshowprizes]

[findersbeepers]

Teasmade

[fragariavescana]

put it in a teasmade?

i want too eat a egg tomorrow but it harrd too make egg when it morrning. we should kill god for designing the world this way

[onlineantiques]

Rare 1930’s Hawkins ‘Tecal’ Teas-Made #teasmade #vintage #retro #rare #antiques #antiquesforsale #morningwakeup #alarmclock #wakeywakey #cuppa #cupoftea #morningtea #tecal #hawkins #hawkinstecal #vintagebedroom https://www.instagram.com/p/CI2k83tHctD/?igshid=1u7poaz9uh1hn

[pretty-little-fools]

[mousegirlpenis]

my grandad had one of these

which is a teasmade; basically a hybrid alarm clock and kettle/tea maker. but his also had section for fried eggs, toast and sausages. so this niche equipment exists but never caught on

there should be a waffle-type device that creates a perfect over-easy friend egg with cooked white and runny yolk. i know fast food places have egg puck machines and thats fine but i want over easy. or is it over medium. whatever cooked white runny yolk is. i think you could probably make this easily it would just be a little iron with a closing lid that cooks the egg outside-in like w affle maker. would an air fryer work? sound off in the comments (i can flip an egg without rupturing it just fine thank you im just blogging)

[neapolitanswirl]

teasmade came to america ohmygod someone get me stat!