LESSER SPOTTED NEAPOLITAN KNICKERBOCKER GLORY 1868-1869 Iceland Not to be confused with the Lesser Spotted Knickerbocker Glory, this Neapolitan-tailed hybrid was captured on canvas in 1868 when Charles first saw the creature dining on what could only be described as coloured ice which it dug out of the frozen environment around Popsicle bay, Iceland. The painting toured the Empire as part of the Great Impossisaurus Britannicas Exhibition in 1901. During its time in America, it was seen by a young boy called Frank Epperson of San Francisco. It made such an impact that in 1905 when Frank was 11 years old, he tried to recreate the coloured water sticks by leaving a glass of soda powder and water outside on his back porch with a wooden mixing stick in it. That night, the temperature dropped below freezing. When Epperson returned to the drink the next morning he found that the soda water had frozen inside the glass and that by running it under hot water, he was able to remove (and eat) the frozen soda water chunk using the stick as a handle. The ice-lollipop was introduced to the public for the first time at an Oakland ball for firemen in 1922. In 1923, Epperson applied for a patent for “frozen ice on a stick” called the Epsicle ice lollipop, which he re-named the Popsicle after the famous bay where Charles Burroughs had first seen the creature. A couple of years later, Epperson sold the rights to the brand name ‘Popsicle’ to the Joe Lowe Company in New York City and the rest is history.
barnum’s bar bending ringling clipperwhip Limited Edition Canvas on Board of 95 Image Size 18 3/4 ” x 30” Framed £595
BARNUM’S BAR BENDING RINGLING CLIPPERWHIP 1870 Germany A chance free ticket given to Charles in 1889 gave him the opportunity to meet the showman of the decade, Phineas T.Barnum, as he bought his ‘Greatest Show on Earth’ over from New York and straight to Olympia in London. Charles was more interested in one of Barnum’s ‘acts’ though, the only tame captive Clipperwhip - a curious animal that balances strength and dexterity into one complete unit. Now the Barnum’s Bar Bending Ringling Clipperwhip is a top-of-the-bill crowd pleaser, known as the ‘Greatest Animal on Earth’. The only previous example was a fleeting glimpse that Charles managed to get in 1858 whilst in Germany on a hunt for the Peppered Pork Pie Pig. The Clipperwhip moved at lightening speed after being disturbed as it ate horse chestnuts and skilfully weaved its way through the trees, completely unhindered by its duality, an ability that made it incredibly hard to sneak upon. Charles had no drawing facilities to hand so he improvised and used a small metal cleaning brush from his shaving kit which he bent in an approximate representation of the Clipperwhips distinctive curly shape. When he returned to camp he made a sketch from memory and using the curly metal shape as reference. Once he had finished sketching he inadvertently pushed the papers in between the metal curl and found to his amazement the papers held together with this paper ‘clip’. A failure to patent his accidental finding led to the paperclip being taken into common usage by the 1870’s after
unscrupulous companions copied it by the thousands.
Charles, upon meeting Barnum’s Clipperwhip, was amazed to find that it was the very Clipperwhip that gave him the slip all those years ago. With its fantastic memory and superior strength, it was not only able to describe exactly what he wore that day, but also bent him a new bit of metal in the shape of the now common paperclip. The Clipperwhip Bent Metal Bar is now one of the most prized possessions at the National Museum of Antiquities, along with Charles’ original bit of curly metal.
Lesser spotted neapolitan knickerbocker glory Limited Edition Canvas on Board of 95 Image Size 30” x 18 3/4 ” Framed £595
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