The man killed by an automaton -- one of history's strangest deaths

The BBC News Monitor site is relaying the story of a man who was accidentally killed by a clock jack -- the figures that strike the bell in large tower clocks -- back in 1876. What a way to go.

Here is where you can read the article Victorian strangeness: The man killed by an automaton.

---

Britain's best collector of bizarre, weird and unusual devices and gadgets

I posted yesterday about the book Ingenious Gadgets. No sooner had I posted than I heard from the expert on all things mechanical and kinetic, Falk Keuten, who writes the excellent Spiel und Kunst mit Mechanik blog. Herr Keuten was kind enough to inform me that the author of the book was featured in the video you see above. It's great to see pictures, but even better to see these antique contraptions on film! I was also made aware of the author Maurice Collins's associated web site called VictorianGadgets.com. The site describes itself as "A collection of bizarre, weird and unusual manufactured devices and gadgets, used in everyday life between the years of the Great exhibition of 1851 to the Festival of Britain 1951."

I should also point out that Maurice Collins is also the author of a similar book called Eccentric Contraptions: And Amazing Gadgets, Gizmos and Thingamabobs. Like the book mentioned above, this one shows you 100 bizarre and ingenious gadgets from the collection of Maurice Collins.

Here is an article on Maurice Collins by Esra Magazine. The article explains how Collins became a collector of weird, eccentric, and everyday gadgets from the past.

Here is a post about Maurice Collins from 2011 on the Spiel und Kunst mit Mechanik blog.

[ Thanks Falk! ]

---

Le Buffet Magique (The Magic Cupboard) automaton circa 1910

The antique automaton shown here is titled Le Buffet Magique which translates as "The Magic Cupboard". According to the video, the piece was probably made by Auguste Triboulet for the Vichy firm in Paris around 1910.

The scene features a young boy perched on a hutch -- probably somewhere he's not supposed to be. He opens the door to the cupboard and a fly disappears within. As the boy reaches for the jar of currant jelly (I think), the face of his omnipresent grandmother appears to warn him away. The boy defiantly sticks his tongue out at the old lady. There seems to be an unusual fascination with tongues in many of the old French automata. I haven't figured out why that is yet. Having been thwarted from his attempt at the jelly, the boy is consoled by the sight of a mouse climbing a nearby apple. To my eye the scene is a bit more bizarre than magical. Certainly, it is humorous. Regardless of your particular interpretation, it is an amazing piece with a lot of interesting figures and motions.

This historical automaton is just one of hundreds housed at the Morris Museum, home to the Murtogh D. Guinness collection of automatic musical instruments and automata. The info is at the end of the video. You may also visit the Morris Museum web site for more information.

---