Gadgets on show at Croxteth Hall

IT was the gadget no self-respecting Edwardian gentleman could do without – a portable moustache protector.

The protector, used to guard hirsute upper lips when drinking tea, will be on display, along with numerous other weird and wonderful inventions and devices, at Croxteth Hall from next week.

Among the items on show will be a self-pouring teapot, a rope-making machine, mice-traps of various type and what has been described a the “lap-top of the 1920’s “– a table top which can be worn using a corded neck holder to hold it in place.

They are part of a vast array of artefacts from the Victorian times to the 1950s accumulated by collector Maurice Collins. He started collecting curious objects after he dug up a bottle with a marble in the neck and wondered what it was for.

Now he hires out his collection to raise money for the charity Kith and Kids.

This year to mark the Olympics some of the items will have a sporting theme, including a prototype machine for cleaning tennis balls and some primitive in-line skates. The Hall will also be staging a special “Teddylimpics” – a special teddy bear quiz with an Olympics theme,

“When this collection was last at Croxteth two years it proved to be very popular, “said Julia Carder, curator of collections for Culture Liverpool, “Visitors were fascinated by the different items trying to work out what they were used for.

“And what better setting could they have than at Croxteth Hall, where, no doubt, gadgets of this type were in everyday use in Edwardian times.”

The exhibition- which is in a number of rooms throughout the Hall – runs from Monday 16 July to Friday 10 August. Normal admission prices and opening times apply.

More information about the collection can be found at http://victoriangadgets.com/ and for Kith and Kids at http://www.kithandkids.org.uk/