Machines Gallery

Machines are devices that use energy to perform a task and can be simple, like a lever or pulley, or complex, like a computer or robot

Otis Electric Elevator
OTIS electric elevator Date: 1890

Pea Apparatus by William Heath Robinson
An interesting and elegant apparatus designed to overcome once for all the difficulties of conveying green peas to the mouth

Singer Sewing Machines - factory in Clydebank, Scotland. 1932

Steam Engine / Governor
Governor, or Fly-Ball Governor, invented by James Watt to regulate the supply of steam in order to preserve a nearly fixed engine speed

A Decided Catch by William Heath Robinson
The Whitebait cycle, an ingenious contraption necessitated by the exorbitant charges for hire of boats at the seaside this season

Bound to Draw by William Heath Robinson
Another well-thought-out experiment in dentistry from Heath Robinson, the Gadget King and mastermind behind endless convoluted contraptions and silly ideas. Date: 1927

Bathing machine owner and swimming master, Essex
Pictured in front of his bathing machines on the beach at Walton-on-the-Naze, Essex, is Charlie Bates with some of his family and the horse which hauled the machines down to the waters edge and back

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John Deere combine harvester, harvesting Barley (Hordeum vulgare) crop, filling trailer pulled by tractor with grain, England, july

Harley Davidson Ad
An advertisement for Harley- Davidson, extolling the wartime virtues of their motor-cycle and sidecar combination

Harley Davidson 1915
An advertisement for Harley- Davidson, showing a soldier taking his lady friend for a ride

Overtime at a Christmas cracker factory by William Heath Rob
Colour illustration by William Heath Robinson depicting one of his usual contraptions designed to solve the increase in demand for Christmas crackers during the forthcoming festive season

Bognor Regis / Huts 1905
Bognor Regis, Sussex: the West Beach

Mixing treated asbestos fibre, Heath Robinson machine
Efficient plant for the successful mixing of treated asbestos fibre with cement. A drawing done by William Heath Robinson for Turners Asbestos Cement Co

Patent double action grinder for asbestos by Heath Robinson
A patent double-action grinder for mashing asbestos fibre - a drawing done for Turners Asbestos Cement Co by William Heath Robinson, renowned for his machines and convoluted contraptions. Date: c.1925

Poster, See Phillips First -- a wonderful range of sports machines, ask here for free illustrated catalogue. Date: circa 1939

The Engine Room at the Clement-Talbot Motor Works, London
The Engine Room at the Clement-Talbot Motor Works, Ladbroke Grove, North Kensington, London, alongside the Great Western Railway line and between Wormwood Scrubs

The Subzeppmarinellin by Heath Robinson, WW1 cartoon
The subzeppmarinellin for making sure of your enemy. All bases covered with this combined submarine and zeppelin from the imagination of William Heath Robinson during the First World War. Date: c.1916

Outwood Windmills
The old (17th century) windmills at Outwood, near Redhill, Surrey, England. The one in the foreground was built in 1665 and is (in 2006) Britains oldest working windmill. Date: late 1930s

Ending in Smoke by Heath Robinson
An ingenious smoke screen spreader for preventing embarrassing situations when the bathroom lock is out of order. Hilarious invention by the inimitable Heath Robinson allowing complete discretion for

Flying for the Summer Week-end by C.E. Turner
Illustration from 1928 by C.E. Turner reflecting the growing rise of civilian flying in the 1920s. The caption reads, ...only last month there was a house-party at which the ten guests

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Cleaning out roadside drainage ditches which had become overgrown using JCB digger, England, February

Beach scene, Walton-on-the-Naze, Essex
Scene of holidaymakers on the Albion Beach at Walton-on-the-Naze, Essex. A long line of bathing machines on wheels can be seen in the background, waiting to be hauled by a horse to the waters edge

Automat Dining Room - Broadway, New York, USA
Automat Dining Room - 1557 Broadway, New York, USA. Horn & Hardart was a food services company of the USA noted for operating the first food service automats in Philadelphia and New York City

Police Public Call Box, London
A police officer using a Police Public Call Box on a London street. The Metropolitan Police introduced police boxes throughout the London area between 1928 and 1937

A simple device for removing a wart
Contrary to the title of this picture, a complicated and convoluted machine to help a sufferer remove a wart from his head

Wertheims Sewingmachine
The sewing machines manufactured by Joseph Wertheim of Frankfurt are used by gnomes as well as by the housewives of Ballarat and Warrnambool

Leonardo Sketches
LEONARDO DA VINCI A page of sketches of flying machines

Windmill, Rembrandt
A somewhat dilapidated Dutch windmill

Italy - Sorrento - The Hotel Vittoria Date: circa 1910

Advert for Underwood portable typewriters 1931
Underwood creates the new portable typewriter. With a quiet carriage that never interrupts the train of thought, a quieter key action and shift key

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Cls forage harvester unloading into tractor with trailer, making alkalage with wholecrop cereals for animal feed, Cumbria, England, september

IBM 5110 and Omnibot 2000 robot, holding a packet of crisps, on display at the Computer History Museum, USA. The IBM (International Business Machines) 5110 was released in 1975 for $14, 000

A Snow plough clearing a road
Snow plough clearing and gritting a road at the Cairnwell Pass in Scotland

Tewkesbury Watermill
This famous old watermill at Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, was immortalised by Dinah Mulock Craik in her book John Halifax, Gentleman

Cyclists & Windmills
Three men cyclists admire the the two windmills at Outwood, Surrey, England. The left one was built in 1665 and still stands today. The right, built 1790, blew down in a gale 1960

The Crossword Craze / 1920
A dashing couple display the growing crossword craze with their checked attire and similarly squared-off small dog!

German inventions for war in the air by G. H. Davis
The ingenuity of German scientists applied to the war in the air. Illustrating the methods and machines exploited and used by the Germans during the Second World War. Date: 1945

Exterior - Automat Dining Room, Times Square, New York, USA
The exterior of the Automat Dining Room - Times Square branch, New York, USA. Horn & Hardart was a food services company of the USA noted for operating the first food service automats in Philadelphia

Victorian inventions in The Engineer
A page of patented engineering and industrial inventions from The Engineer magazine, 1856. Date: 1856

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Massey Ferguson tractor with McHale baler, round baling silage in meadow, Yorkshire Dales, Yorkshire, England, september

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Valtra T151 tractor with muck spreader, spreading muck on arable field, England, march

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Black-headed Gull (Larus ridibundus) flock, winter plumage, following tractor ploughing stubble field, North Norfolk, England, february

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Wheat (Triticum aestivum) crop, ripe ears in field, with Cls combine harvester harvesting, near Ledbury, Herefordshire, England, september

Orffyreus Wheel & Man
The perpetual motion wheel of Orffyreus, real name Johann Ernst Elias Bessler, is set in motion by a man

Stamp Machine 1960S
A young woman puts a penny (1d) in the slot of a stamp machine, which will dispense a second class book of stamps. First class stamps are 3d (thruppence) per book

Chinese Abacus 1814
A man uses a " swan-pen" - a Chinese version of the abacus

Singer in Bulgaria
This Bulgarian lady, like her husband and her daughter, is wearing her flamboyant regional costume as she treadles away at her Singer

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Ferguson TE20, Little Grey Fergie tractor, on snow covered grazing marsh at sunset, Elmley Marshes N.N.R. North Kent Marshes, Isle of Sheppey, Kent, England, february

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Machines are devices that use energy to perform a task and can be simple, like a lever or pulley, or complex, like a computer or robot. They have been used for centuries to make work easier and more efficient. Today, they can used in many industries such as manufacturing, transportation, agriculture and healthcare, and are be programmed to do specific tasks with accuracy and precision that surpasses human capabilities and can also be used to automate processes which would otherwise require manual labor. They have revolutionized the way we live and work by making tasks faster and more efficient than ever before.