1966 Goblin Teasmade D31

The Goblin D31 went into production in July 1966. It is known to have been on sale that year for £14/10/-, when it was referred to as the “New Goblin”. With the D31 Goblin moved away from their traditional styling into a much more modern look, with a circular aluminium kettle. The D31 and its partner with a teapot, the D32 were available in magnolia and pink.

The D31 stands on a white plastic plinth with a recess at the front edge. The bakelite main unit, with its horizontally ridged front panel, was available in magnolia or pink. The switches are mounted in a vertical row to the right of the front panel. A new clock face features a dial with modern (arabic) numerals. The hour hand has a small hole drilled in it for some unfathomable reason! The kettle sits on a black plastic tray that has locating slots at its rim. The kettle tapers slightly towards the top, with a butterfly or wing nut style handle through which the exhaust spout runs and points (hopefully) in the direction of a teapot, which you have to provide as it is not included with the D31. A 3 pin plug was introduced in 1967.

The light is on top of the unit with a new style white plastic ridged shade. John Atack commented that this model specifies a 40w candle bulb, in contrast to the 15w standard bayonet pygmy bulb specified for other Goblin models. The 40w bulbs generally had a poor life, especially when burnt horizontally, although changing the bulb was a relatively easy operation. John added that the 15 watt is a fragile bulb and not as common to find in shops or supermarkets as the 25 watt, although as time went on a better filament support was provided and bulbs lasted longer. Many folk would, John supposed, replace the 15 watt with the 25 watt. He doubted if this would cause an immediate problem but in his experience and as evidenced by one of his own machines, it could lead to melting or distortion of the plastic diffuser cover or possibly worse if left on for ages.

An internal memo confirms that this model was still available in 1968 and there were no immediate plans to update or delete it from the range, but before the year was out, the D31 and D32 had been discontinued. They were abandoned due to the electrolytic action between the electric element and aluminium kettle body causing wastage, leading to leaks and many warranty claims.

The clock surround and controls and the pink colouring of the D31 and D32 were retained for the subsequent Goblin 833m and the Goblin 834m.