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A Teasmade is an automatic tea-making appliance designed to brew a pot at a preset time, usually by combining a clock, kettle and teapot. In classic electric models, steam pressure pushed hot water from a sealed kettle into the teapot, while an alarm signalled that the tea was ready.
What is a Teasmade?
The Teasmade was a bedside appliance for people who wanted tea ready when they woke. Its usual components were a clock, an electric kettle and a teapot assembled as one machine. The Science Museum Group records an early Goblin Teasmade made in Great Britain in 1932: its object includes a clock, an electric kettle with a tubular spout and an earthenware teapot. Science Museum Group collection record.
The name became associated with the Goblin-branded appliance marketed by the British Vacuum Cleaner and Engineering Co. Ltd. The Science Museum Group attributes the 1932 design to engineer W.H. Brenner Thornton and says he sold the patent to the company, which marketed it as the Goblin Teasmade.
How did a Teasmade make tea?
In the electric design described by Teasmade.uk, water heated in a sealed kettle. As it boiled, steam pressure drove hot water through a tube running from the kettle into the teapot. The device could be set ahead of time so the heating cycle took place before the alarm sounded. Teasmade.uk’s mechanism explanation.
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- Simple Alarm Function: The moderate alarm volume will not surprise you and make you wake up easily. ON/OFF button can help you turn on/off the alarm easily
- Night Light Function: Press the snooze button, you can light up the clock in the darkness, especially when you wake up at night. Small yellow light is friendly to protect your eyes
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- Fill the kettle or boiler and prepare the teapot as the model’s instructions specify.
- Set the clock alarm for the desired wake-up time.
- The appliance heats the water before that time; pressure sends it through the tube into the teapot.
- The alarm sounds to signal that the tea is ready.
Some described designs included a pot-presence cut-out to prevent the appliance from sending boiling water where the teapot should be, and a thermostat cut-out that interrupted current as the heating element reached its operating temperature. These are features of the mechanisms described by the source, not a guarantee about every model.
Teasmade history: the idea came before Goblin
An earlier automatic tea machine
The concept predates the familiar electric Goblin appliance. The Science Museum Group records a machine patented by Birmingham inventor Frank Clarke in 1902 and made between 1902 and 1910. An alarm clock operated levers that activated a methylated-spirit stove and a kettle-tilting mechanism. It was marketed as “A Clock Which Makes Tea.” Science Museum Group record of Clarke’s machine.
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A clock-operated gas tea maker in 1893
A still earlier patent account describes a clock-operated gas tea maker by James Greenhalgh and John Thomas Hardman. As reproduced by Teasmade.uk, the patent explained its purpose this way: “The object of this invention is primarily to enable a person who requires to attend work or other business, at any early hour in the morning to have a cup of tea or the like prepared without attendance and ready for consumption previous to departure, but the same apparatus may be employed for domestic purposes at other times.” Teasmade.uk’s history page.
Goblin’s popularity
The Ostfriesisches Teemuseum describes a Goblin model in which the user set the alarm, the water heated shortly before it rang, and steam pressure pushed hot water through a chrome tube into a second pot. The museum reports that production reached 300,000 units annually in the late 1960s; that figure describes that period, not current sales. Ostfriesisches Teemuseum collection page.
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Can you still buy a Teasmade?
Whether a particular Teasmade is available depends on current listings, which are not established by the historical sources cited here. Search phrases such as “Teasmade automatic tea maker” can help distinguish vintage Goblin appliances from modern automatic tea-making products, but the name alone does not establish that a listing is the original type of machine or that it works.
Before buying a vintage unit, check the listing for:
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- Silent Non-Ticking Movement: Quartz analog clock offers a very silent non-ticking movement and accurate time for undisturbed sleep
- Progressive Alarm Sound: This bedside alarm clock has a beep noise that starts out at one pace and progressively gets faster and louder in 4 stages, with a big alarm switch that ensures you turn the alarm on/off easily
- Energy-Efficient Backlight: There's a button in the back to press and hold to turn the light on, so it's not using up battery juice keeping it lit all the time - only when needed
- Easy Battery Operation: This basic battery operated alarm clock runs on 1 AA battery (not included), easy for elderly and kids to use
- Function: Is it described as working, untested, or for display and restoration only?
- Included parts: Confirm whether the clock, kettle or boiler, teapot, and any connecting tube are present.
- Condition and serviceability: Look for signs of damage and ask whether parts or repairs are available.
- Electrical suitability: Check the appliance’s electrical compatibility for your location rather than assuming an old unit can be plugged in safely.
- Brewing method: A modern automatic tea maker may offer timed brewing without using the historic sealed-kettle-and-tube mechanism.
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
