1930s
The battle to produce a commercial electric teasmade was extraordinarily heated. The two earliest inventions were Absolom’s patent application of May 2nd 1932, followed by William Hermann Brenner Thornton‘s (taken up by Goblin) on Jan 27th 1933. Edward Beckingsale’s followed with a patent application on 4th April
1930s
On January 23rd 1934 William Hermann Brenner Thornton, (on this occasion calling himself William Harry Thornton), applied for a second patent, no 432207. It was from this prototype that Goblin’s first commercial automatic tea maker was derived. Making of hot beverages Application Number GB19340002287 19340123 Publication Number 432207 (A)
1930s
Patent number GB440941 was applied for on August 21st 1935. George reached an agreement with L.G. Hawkins to manufacture these tea makers for them. The unit, branded as the Tecal, was manufactured by George Absolom from 1936 until the beginning of World War 2 in 1939. The patent reads:
1930s
A Goblin leaflet about the 1936 teasmade range featured two models: an Alarm Model with a clock, and a Day Model without. The Day Model is incredibly rare as Doug believes it was sold for no more than a year and discontinued due to low demand. By chance Doug found
1930s
Goblin purchased the rights to William Hermann Brenner Thornton’s design, and manufactured the first commercial Goblin Teasmade in 1937. It was made of plywood, and a lampshade “of a pleasing and modern design” was included. The kettle was chrome plated and was fitted with a patented element. It was
1930s
The Hawkins Tecal (pronounced tea-call) was designed by George Absolom and manufactured by him until World War Two in 1939. The Tecal featured a chrome kettle, but no teapot. An advert for this model appeared in the Army and Navy catalogue for 1939-1940. The entry described the Tecal
Goblin Models
BVC acquired the Magneta Time Company in about 1937 and began to diversify into both domestic and master and slave clocks. In late 1937 Goblin developed a new clock movement and created a range of Goblin clocks and began to manufacture and market them in earnest. By November 1939 the
1940s
Goblin produced no teasmades during the war years. Manufacturing recommenced in 1947 with their second full production model, the Goblin D20, a fabulous design with styling reminiscent of the Art Deco period. We believe that about 7000 D20 units were manufactured each year until the D20 was replaced by the
1940s
The TeaLarm teasmade was made in 1948 and feaures a Smiths Sectric clock. The case was quite tall,27.5 cm, and was made from a hard plastic reminiscent of bakelite. It had rather Art Deco styling. Brown and cream versions were available. The plinth behind the clock uses a
1940s
The Goblin Timespot, released in 1947, appears to have been the first ever commercial radio alarm clock. Early promotions described it as a “Goblin Controlled Time Domestic Radio, Incorporating Superhet Radio Receiver with Synchronous Electric Clock”. In the same year Ekco released a clock radio – the A33 Radiotime. Their comparatively
1940s
The Goblin D21 was manufactured from 1949 to 1955, when it was replaced by the D25. It was similar in appearance to the D20, with its cream coloured textured paint, wooden tray and teasmade unit. The body was still plywood, but the tilting platform was now made of cast aluminium,
1940s
This post-war model, launched in 1949, was a radical new styling of the original Hawkins Tecal (pronounced tea-call). It differs from the previous model in that there is no plinth for the teapot. The clock mounting and frame are also different in shape and style. The patent, number
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