Bradstreet's Enchanted Gin Cat to Carlile's Invisible Shopman

[roger]

Make me an offer...

JUST KIDDING !!!!!!!!!!!!
I just came across this GEM..........This coin-op is English and dates back to the 17th century.

Believe it or not, it dispensed GIN.

I would appreciate any information available from club members and if any machine is known to exist. I have not purchased a machine for years but might go to $300 for this one.
ROGER

[coppinpr]

These are not quite what they seem. There are in fact no mechanical parts. These came along as a result of laws being passed to try and kerb the Gin addiction in the major cities in the UK in the 1600's. Gin was very cheap, very lethal and a good way to hide from the poverty and hard living of the city slums.
The law said Gin pubs had to close at a certain time to reduce the sales of gin. "Old Tom" a gin distiller (the name still exists as a gin brand today) came up with these wall fittings. You installed them in your door or wall; the customer could insert a penny in the mouth slot; the publican would receive the penny on the other side of the wall and pour a measure of gin down the tube allowing sales while the pub was closed.
Several do exist in museums, but I've never seen one in public hands and it's unlikely you would get a wood carving from the 1600s for as little as $300.

https://www.penny-arcade.info/strange2

[pennymachines]

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What I found...

The originator of the device was Dudley Bradstreet (1711–1763), who explains why he made it and how he employed it in his autobiography, The Life and Uncommon Adventures of Capt. Dudley Bradstreet, Etc.

Irish-born Bradstreet was an adventurer, sometime soldier, secret government agent, linen merchant, brewer, playwright, gambler and thoroughly resourceful chancer. His greater claim to fame was putting an end to the Jacobite cause:

During the rising of 1745, Bradstreet was employed by government officials to act as a spy among suspected persons. He was also engaged and equipped by the Dukes of Newcastle and Cumberland to furnish them with information on the movements of Prince Charles Edward and his army. Bradstreet assumed the character of a devoted adherent to the Stuart cause, and, under the name of 'Captain Oliver Williams,' obtained access to the prince and his council at Derby. There he acted successfully as a spy for the Duke of Cumberland, and, without being suspected by the Jacobites, persuaded Charles Stuart's army to turn back, by warning of a "third force" of 9,000 men in Northampton ready to fight the Scots (a force which did not in fact exist). After the council, Bradstreet continued on good terms with the rebels, and took his leave as a friend when they commenced their return march to Scotland, a decision which ended Jacobite hopes of seizing London and the Crown.

Dudley Bradstreet

His gin dispensing cat was installed in the street-facing window of a rented house in Blue Anchor Alley, St. Luke’s Parish, London (behind the Barbican, Islington). Fashioned from the carved wooden sign of a cat purchased at a market in Moorfields, it was fitted with a lead pipe to dispense gin, with the cat's mouth serving as the coin slot.

Blue Anchor Alley

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Blue Anchor Alley imagined in Assassin's Creed

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My Scheme I went upon was directly opposite to the Laws of England. At this time the selling of Geneva in a less Quantity than two Gallons, was prohibited by Act of Parliament, and whoever presumed to do it must pay ten Pounds to the Informer, or be confined two Months in Prison, and there whipped. Most of the Gaols were full on account of this Act, and Numbers of People every Day dragged to one Prison or other for transgressing this Law.

The Mob being very noisy and clamorous for want of their beloved Liquor, which few or none at last dared to sell, it soon occurred to me to venture upon that Trade. I bought the Act, and read it over several times, and found no Authority by it to break open Doors, and that the Informer must know the Name of the Person who rented the House it was sold in. To evade this, I got an Acquaintance to take a House in Blue Anchor Alley in St. Luke's Parish, who privately conveyed his Bargain to me; I then got it well secured, and laid out in a Bed and other Furniture five Pounds, in Provision and Drink that would keep about two Pounds, and purchased in Moorfields the Sign of a Cat, and had it nailed to a Street Window; I then caused a Leaden Pipe, the small End out about an Inch, to be placed under the Paw of the Cat; the End that was within had a Funnel to it.

When my House was ready for Business, I enquired what Distiller in London was most famous for good Gin, and was assured by several, that it was Mr. Langdale in Holbourn: To him I went and laid out thirteen Pounds, which was all the Money I had, except two Shillings, and told him my Scheme, which he approved of. This Cargo was sent off to my House, at the Back of which there was a Way to go in or out. When the Liquor was properly disposed, I got a Person to inform a few of the Mob, that Gin would be sold by the Cat at my Window next Day, provided they put the Money in its Mouth, from whence there was a Hole that conveyed it to me. At Night I took Possession of my Den, and got up early next Morning to be ready for Custom; it was near three Hours before any body called, which made me almost despair of the Project; at last I heard the Chink of Money, and a comfortable Voice say, "Puss, give me two Pennyworth of Gin." I instantly put my Mouth to the Tube, and bid them receive it from the Pipe under her Paw, and then measured and poured it into the Funnel, from whence they soon received it. Before Night I took six Shillings, the next Day above thirty Shillings, and afterwards three or four Pounds a Day; from all Parts of London People vied to resort to me in such Numbers, that my Neighbours could scarcely get in or out of their Houses. After this manner I went on for a Month, in which time I cleared upwards of two and twenty Pounds.

Being pretty much tired of Solitude, I resolved to go out by Night, but closely to attend the Business of the Day. My first Visit was to the Gaming Tables in Covent-garden, which afterwards I pretty much frequented. To these destructive Tables Persons clean dressed, provided they did not wear a Livery, Handkerchief about their Neck, or Apron before them, were admitted; there you might see many unhappy Spendthrifts and Rakehells, of different Nations, some elated beyond measure at a Night's Success, while others were abandoned to the most afflicting Agonies of Despair, for their irrecoverable Loss at Play; well-dressed Pimps and Panders for Lust, watching the Fortunate, to conduct them from thence to high-priced Prostitutes in luxurious Bagnios.

Bradstreet then proceeded a couple of hundred yards to Moll King’s notorious coffee house where he befriended Mrs Mary Winnet...

We got two Chairs and went to a Tavern; after drinking some Glasses of Wine I was very communicative, and made her laugh heartily about my manner of living, particularly when I related the Progress of my Cat. When I found her most obliging, I took the Advantage, and invited her to retire from the gay World, and live with me in a Cottage of Love. At this Proposal she did not hesitate a Moment, but assured me she would come the next Night; and to convince me of the Love and Esteem she had for Schemers (for she was a famous one herself) she insisted on my taking back the Guinea I had given her, which I did; she then wrote a Memorandum of the Place where I lived, and promised late the next Night to give three gentle Taps at my Door, which was to be chalked, to make it the more remarkable for her Chairmen, and took her Leave.

Moll King's Coffee House

I was greatly pleased with the Delicacy and Beauty of my new Acquaintance, the Thoughts of whom amused me till I got home. Being then near Morning I lay down, but was soon routed by Customers impatiently calling to poor Puss for Gin; I soon attended them, and was tired of serving and receiving Money that whole Day. At Night I was busied making the best Disposition of every thing in my enchanted Castle, for the Reception of the Lady I expected, though I was very doubtful of her coming. About ten o'Clock I heard the Signal, then opened the Door, and out of a Chair stepped my Lady with a large Bundle of Clothes and other Things...

We both rose early to answer the Calls of our Friends, and help poor Puss a little. Never was Consort more charmed than mine to behold the Success of my odd Scheme, every Instant Money flowing upon me. The Street now became quite impassable, by the Numbers who came out of Curiosity to see the enchanted Cat, for so Puss was called. This Concourse of idle People had such an Effect, that my Neighbours went to their several Landlords and declared, their Houses were not tenant-able unless they got the Cat-man removed; they asked who the Cat-man was, but received no other Information than that he was the greatest Nuisance they ever saw or heard of.

Next day...

We got up as early as usual, and had more to do, if possible, than ever before. About twelve o'Clock we were interrupted by the Justices, Parish Officers, Constables, and Headboroughs of Finsbury Division, who came in all their Formalities and besieged my House; they knocked at the Door, and desired Admittance; I answered, but did not appear, and told them they should not; the curious Mob and expecting Neighbours beholding all with Impatience, desirous to know the mighty Event. I requested of Mrs. Winnet to go up Stairs and speech them out of a Window; she took Courage on this Occasion, dressed herself, and threw up the Sash. Greater Crowds were not to behold the Venetian Ambassador make his public Entry, than upon this Occasion to see Mrs. Winnet, with all the Glories of Youth, Beauty, and Dress in such a Place; the Sight of her captivated the Youth and Aged, from Enemies they soon became Admirers. The Word became general among them, by swearing she was the Queen of Love; she addressed them with her harmonious Voice, saying, "Gentlemen, why do you assemble in this tumultuous manner before my Door." The Effect of Beauty is surprising, when speaking to a rude ungovernable Mob; they instantly changed, from Jarring and Discord, to Silence equal to the Dead: She proceeded, saying, "If you have a lawful Authority to break open my Doors, spare them not, otherwise at your Peril be it: My Manners are very inoffensive, here my Cat and I only sell the Water of Life, which if drank by any Person they shall never die, while they continue using it." This Speech had a most incredible Effect upon five of her Hearers, who were, I suppose, enthusiastically mad before; for they instantly threw themselves on their Knees to worship her. The Justices and other Officers begged her Pardon and sneaked off, being hooted by the insulting Mob. She then disappeared, and came down Stairs...

My Scheme of a Puss, now becoming common, was practised by many others, which greatly diminished my Business, and made me drop it, and turn my Head to something else.

The carved cat gin dispenser in Roger's post is at the Beefeater Distillery, Kennington. There’s a stone tom-cat at the Hand of Glory pub in Hackney, “apparently made from a chunk of St. Paul's Cathedral”, and another wooden example.

[roger]

I just read the very informative and entertaining posts by coppinpr and Mr. P..........The "Gin Cat" history has caused me to open up my purse strings... My new offer is 350 CASH

ROGER

[pennymachines]

I'm guessing 1735 as a birth of coin-op in Nic Costa's soon to be published book, Penny in the Slot- Conceiving the Internet- the Birth of the Coin Machine 1735-1883, might be referencing Dudley Bradstreet and his gin cat, as described above. I've just amended my post on this, having realized the 'coin operated device' was located at the long lost Blue Anchor Alley, London EC1, not as I previously had it, Blue Anchor Alley, Greater London, TW9.

The Blue Anchor Alley of coin-op fame is now Dufferin Street, off Bunhill Row. The Artillery Arms pub on the corner of Dufferin Street and Bunhill Row was originally the Blue Anchor pub, although the current building was established almost 100 years after Bradstreet's death. (There was also a Blue Anchor pub, now repurposed, in Blue Anchor Alley, TW9).

[daleman]

You're absolutely right. This is the first 'device' in Nic Costa's forthcoming book Penny in the Slot. However all the surviving paraphernalia are modern conceptions, nothing other than his biography survives from that time. However it's a very early instance of what we would now call the 'dark web'.

[pennymachines]

Similarly, I think it could (and has been) argued that the unlicensed presses that sprang up in London from the late 1500s onward, publishing proscribed political and religious books and pamphlets are precursors to the decentralized internet.

While Laudian crackdowns were taking place, London continued to be, to use the words of Ethyn Kirby, author of William Prynne: A Study in Puritanism, a city of “literary buccaneering”, a “world of unlicensed presses smuggled books, suppressed tracts, silenced ministers, libels, and counter-libels”. To evade the functionaries of the law and the much-feared Star Chamber, printers organised like hell, hiding their presses in places like closets, garden sheds, and coffee houses. These chambers of secrets—hiding the most dangerous of texts—were sometimes only accessible by a series of trapdoors.

Mercury-Women and Britain’s Early News Wars The Thinker's Garden

The famous 'invisible shopman', employed at Richard Carlile's Temple of Reason bookshop in Fleet Street, around 1825, attempted to frustrate the censors. Having already endured several spells in prison for his progressive publications, the idea of a coin operated device with the same anonymizing function as Bradstreet's Gin Cat was hit upon. Accounts speak of a clockwork apparatus with a coin slot and selection dial showing the name of each forbidden publication which was dispatched by a series of flaps, chutes and pulleys upon insertion of suitable coinage - in fact all the elements of what we now recognize as a coin-operated vending machine, several decades before Simeon Denham's 1883 postcard vendor. Experiments were also made with speaking tubes.
http://www.freemasons-freemasonry.com/prescott05.html

The circulation of Carlile’s books were quadrupled, and a cheering crowd around his shop windows perpetually testified their approval of his courage, and at public dinners in the provinces, the health was drank of ‘Carlile’s invisible shopman.’

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/39123/3 ... 9123-h.htm

Although automatic book vending remains niche, early commercial success was established in Germany with the arrival of Peter Behrens' 1912 Reclam-Bücher, which became a common sight at railway stations and other public areas into the 1930s.

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Photo: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Leipzig

Alan Lane's wonderfully named Penguincubator of 1937 failed to achieve similar results for Penguin Books.

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In the States, E Halderman-Julius's Little Blue Book vendors (1939), Pocket Books Book-O-Mat (1947) and Rock-Ola's 1949 vendor of the same name met with varying degrees of success.
A Brief History of Book Vending Machines