1932 Absolom Teesmade
On 2nd May 1932, George Absolom submitted an application for a patent on his invention, a "New or improved apparatus for the making of beverages" in the form of an electric automatic tea maker, soon to be known as the Teesmade (sic). The word ‘teesmade’ was certainly initiated by George Absolom and predates the use of the word ‘teasmade’ by about four years.
The Patent (number 400672) was passed on November 2nd 1933. George Absolom also applied for a Registered Design using the name Teesmade, but this was not accepted by the Patent Office on the grounds that the unit was not made on the River Tees this might confuse the public. Geographic trademarks were invariably refused at this time, indeed the Patent Office passed legislation to forbid them in 1938. This legislation has since been relaxed.
The label on my example identifies the manufacturer as Automatic Utilities Ltd, George Absolom’s first company, followed by the text: “TEESMADE” CABINET, PROV. PATENT 12555/32, SERIAL NO. 627. The number 32 may refer to the year of manufacture.
The Teesmade hid all its workings within an attractive wooden cabinet, with an alarm clock perched on top and an integral bedside lamp at the side.
The clock on my example is not the original but is very similar in shape and style to the one in the patent application drawings.
In September 1932 an editorial appeared in several newspapers (each with a different headline), including the Times Weekly Illustrated, the Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail (10th Sep) and the Warwick and Warwickshire Advertiser (17th Sep). The article stated that the appliance was manufactured in Hanwell, which is about 4 miles from Absolom's home in Hayes, and a cabinet with a clock on top is described, so there is little doubt that the article is about the Teesmade, even though no name is mentioned.
MORNING CUP OF TEA BY CLOCKWORK
Professional humorists have played with the idea of patent clocks that would perform other services for their owners besides waking them. Their dream, which some sluggards themselves have no doubt shared, has come true. An alarm clock that makes tea before rousing its possessor is now the market. It is a British invention, manufactured at Hanwell.
The apparatus fills a small cabinet, on top of which the alarm clock is fixed. A copper boiler, holding 2½ pints of water, is filled overnight, and placed in the cabinet beside the teapot. The alarm is set for the hour at which the owner wishes to be wakened, and he turns on an electric switch. He may then go to sleep. Ten minutes before the alarm is timed to go off, the genie of the clock bestirs itself. The mechanism which in an ordinary alarm clock would set the bell ringing, here automatically switches on an electric heater in the boiler. The electricity is drawn from the mains through a lamp-socket or a plug in the wall.
When the water boils it is forced by the pressure of steam into an outlet pipe, which delivers a pint of boiling water into the teapot. The transference of this quantity of water from one vessel to the other tilts a board on which both are standing. This makes an electrical contact, and so causes a bell to ring. The bell is actuated by a dry battery in the cabinet, and will continue ringing till switched off.
Simultaneously, with the first note of the alarm, a table lamp, plugged into the side of the cabinet, is lighted, and the lamp continues burning for as long or as short a time as the owner wishes. The tea consumed, there will still plenty of hot water left for shaving.
George’s son Robert told me that the cabinets were not made at Absolom’s workshop at 52 Lansbury Drive. His father had some connections with a Mr Reg Kidd who would probably have made the cabinets in his workshop. Perhaps this was at Hanwell?
At Christmas in 1933 a showroom was advertising a new improved version of Absolom’s Teesmade in the Hull Daily Mail. I have not been able to identify the nature of the improvements.
When Goblin soon started to use the name Teasmade for their own teamakers in 1936, they were in no position to object to George’s brand, which had the indisputable advantage of prior use. One can only guess at Goblin’s frustration as they were forced to turn a blind eye to their competitor.