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Photos: What gadgets were the Victorians using?
Self pouring teapots, periscope glasses and fire grenades...

By Tim Ferguson

Published: Thursday 14 August 2008

The British Library in London is playing host to an exhibition of gadgets and technology from the Victorian era and early 20th century.

The collection belongs to collector and author Maurice Collins OBE and is promoting the Business and Intellectual Property centre at the library.

This is a forerunner of your trusty Outlook calendar. It's a memorandum clock, which indicates when a business appointment has finished.

The device (from 1890) uses a bone note with the relevant person's name on it. When the allotted time runs out, the note is dropped and an alarm goes off.

The label by the clock adds: "Also used in houses of ill repute."

Photo credit: Tim Ferguson