The Teasmade, the Trimphone and 18 More Odd British Inventions

In 1902 you could buy a clock that struck a match by itself and made you a cup of tea. Britain has always been good at small, slightly odd ideas that ended up in every kitchen, road and bedroom. Here are twenty of them, in the order you might have met them on an ordinary day, from the Teasmade and the Trimphone to the Spirograph, the ZX Spectrum, SodaStream, the hostess trolley and the wind-up radio. Every fact is checked against museum collections and the sources below. Which one was in your house? Tell us in the comments. CHAPTERS 0:00 A clock that made the tea 1:06 1. The tea that made itself 1:57 2. The phone that warbled 2:42 3. The kettle that switched itself off 3:57 4. The mixer that peeled potatoes 4:44 5. The overnight crease 5:41 6. The beacons that didn't light up 6:31 7. The Little Nipper 7:21 8. The lamp that stays put 8:21 9. The toy that was secretly maths 9:14 10. Press play on tape 10:02 11. Fifteen miles an hour 11:11 12. The chair leg 12:20 13. Get busy with the fizzy 13:07 14. Blobs in a bottle 14:17 15. Dinner on wheels 15:05 16. The round radio 15:59 17. Eyes in the road 17:13 18. A cushion of air 18:28 19. 5,127 19:22 20. Wind it up 20:19 Which one did you have? SOURCES Science Museum Group collection (Teasmade, kettle, Kenwood Chef, SodaStream, ZX Spectrum, hostess trolley, Trimphone and more) and blog Science Museum, "Home cooking: from Victorian tech to Kenwood Chef"; MoDiP (Kenneth Grange) V&A collections (Anglepoise lamp 1227; Workmate Mark 2; Freeplay radio; Spirograph B.155:1 to 35-2011; ZX Spectrum O1300970; Trimphone CIRC.389-1967, W.65-2002; Ekco AD65 W.23:1, 2-1981) Historic England, National Heritage List entry 1396390; Hansard, HC Deb 2 December 1941 vol 376 GPO Technical Development Committee minutes (transcribed at britishtelephones.com) The Times, obituary of Denys Fisher (2002) Centre for Computing History; Grace's Guide (Timex; Sodastream; L. G. Hawkins and Co; E. K. Cole; Pye; John Corby; Russell Hobbs; James Henry Atkinson) Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales; Doing History in Public (2025), citing Ben Highmore, The Great Indoors SodaStream press release (1996) Design Museum (Anglepoise; Dyson G-Force); Calderdale Museums, "Percy Shaw" Windsor Local History Group, "The Corby Trouser Press"; University of Reading, Museum of English Rural Life, "Little Nipper" (1899) Leicester Museums; National Motor Museum (Sinclair C5); Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycles Regulations 1983 (SI 1983/1168) IET Engineering and Technology History Wiki and IET blog (Christopher Cockerell) BBC News: "Lava lamps: Still bubbling at 50" (2013); "Obituary: Trevor Baylis" (2018); Smithsonian magazine, "The History of the Lava Lamp" (2013) The Independent: Russell Hobbs K2 kettle; obituary of Ron Hickman (2011); The Register (2011) Dyson, "The Dyson Story"; IMechE Archive; Antiquarian Horological Society; Museum of Technology; teasmade.uk Wikipedia entries cited on screen Map data: Natural Earth (public domain). Animations, graphics, music and sound: our own work. VIDEO (credited on screen) Lava lamp: Frank Vincentz (CC BY-SA 3.0), Wikimedia Commons Solent Flyer hovercraft, Southsea: Tim Sheerman-Chase (CC BY 4.0), Wikimedia Commons Intro photos: Alan Murray-Rust (CC BY-SA 2.0), Lewis Hulbert (CC BY-SA 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons PHOTOGRAPHS (credited on screen), via Wikimedia Commons / Geograph: Cory Doctorow / Gazebo (CC BY-SA 2.0); Sheridan Parsons (CC BY-SA 4.0); Industriemuseum Gent (CC0); MortimerCat (CC BY-SA 3.0); Des Blenkinsopp (CC BY-SA 2.0); Alan Murray-Rust (CC BY-SA 2.0); Mtaylor848 (CC BY-SA 4.0); David Jones (CC BY 2.0); Andrew Berridge (CC BY-SA 2.5); Peter Facey (CC BY-SA 2.0); Novemberchild (CC BY-SA 4.0); Telstardom (CC BY-SA 4.0); TheMexican (Public domain); Aaaatu (CC BY-SA 4.0); Ged Carroll (CC BY 2.0); SimonTrew (CC BY-SA 3.0); antefixus21 (CC0); Lankyrider (CC BY-SA 4.0); Grant Mitchell (CC BY 2.0); Prioryman (CC BY-SA 4.0); Mike Peel (CC BY-SA 4.0); Simon from United Kingdom (CC BY 2.0); J. D. Pfaff (CC BY-SA 3.0); Daderot (CC0); TheGoodEndedHappily (CC BY-SA 4.0); renaissance chambara (CC BY 2.0); Northernhenge (Public domain); Avron (CC BY-SA 4.0); Clem Rutter (CC BY-SA 3.0); Jerry mouse (CC BY-SA 3.0); Pavel Ševela (CC BY-SA 3.0); Science Museum Group (CC BY 4.0); Victuallers (CC BY-SA 3.0); UKmender (CC BY-SA 3.0); Diamondmagna (CC BY-SA 3.0); Willem van de Poll (CC0); Vikki Haffenden (CC BY-SA 3.0); Storye book (CC BY-SA 4.0); David Clark (CC BY-SA 2.0); R/DV/RS (CC BY 2.0); kim traynor (CC BY-SA 2.0); Camilla Comeau (CC BY-SA 2.0); Multicherry (CC BY-SA 3.0); Multicherry (CC BY-SA 4.0); Bill Bertram (CC BY-SA 2.5); Jzh2074 (CC BY-SA 4.0); Meaghan O'Malley (CC BY 2.0); Eirik Newth from Oslo, Oslo (CC BY 2.0); Kungfuman (CC BY-SA 3.0); Andy Mabbett (CC BY-SA 4.0); Southend Museums Service (CC BY-SA 3.0); MerchantOfLight (CC BY-SA 4.0); electromechanic812291 (CC BY 2.0)