POWERHOUSE COLLECTION

Prototype Christmas cracker (bon-bon) making machine and 2 boxes of crackers

Object No. B2340

This is the prototype of an electrically-operated machine to mass produce Christmas crackers, generally known as bon-bons in Australia. It was designed and patented in Australia by Franz Riedl Stelling of the Sydney suburb of Roseville in 1932. This machine and others produced 'Southern Cross' and 'Argent' brand crackers packed in one dozen boxes made by the Argent Manufacturing Co. of which Stelling was the managing director, at 116 Wellington Street, in the Sydney suburb of Waterloo. Christmas crackers are said to have originated in England in 1847, the invention of Tom Smith, a confectioner who wanted to wrap his bon-bon sweets (sugared almonds) in twists of tissue paper. He later inserted love messages and after hearing a log crackle in the fireplace, got the idea of a banger mechanism. Later, the sweets were abandoned and trinkets such as fans and jewellery were added. It was Tom's son, Walter Smith, who removed the love mottos and replaced them with puzzles and later jokes together with paper hats. Prior to the introduction of this machine, crackers had to be laboriously crimped by hand using a draw string. Using string was problematic as care had to be taken not to cut the flimsy paper. The breakthrough patented by Stelling and used in his machine allowed for mechanical crimping through a variable orifice. This device was like the diaphragm of a camera and comprised a series of blades which closed around the bon-bon formed tube and gave the desired crimp effect. The machine enabled the bon-bon output to be significantly increased, the quality of the product to be more consistent and lowered the cost of production. Stelling took out patents for his invention not only in Australia, but Great Britain, the USA, Canada, France and Germany. The Australian patent for the bon-bon making machine was taken up by James Stedman Henderson's Sweets Ltd, of Rosebery, Sydney, makers of Sweetacres' lollies, including Minties, Jaffas and Fantales. The machines were exported to New Zealand, Canada and the United Kingdom. In the late 1930s Franz Stelling took this prototype bon-bon making machine to England with a view to it being the model from which to manufacture other machines like it. However, World War II intervened and this machine and two others were removed from the Argent Manufacturing Co.'s London branch and sent to be stored in the conservatory of Stelling's brother's home in Peckham, 5.6 km south east of London. At Peckham the machines were partially damaged by incendiary bombs during the Blitz which practically demolished the conservatory. Franz returned to England just after the War and arranged for the machines to be brought back to Australia and overhauled, but they were never put back into use. Franz Stelling died on 25 July 1966 at the age of 83. In 1978 his daughter, Margot Arrowsmith, donated the prototype machine to the Museum after selling her home in the Sydney suburb of Gordon (not far from Stelling's Roseville home) where the machines had been stored. It was restored to operating condition by the Museum in the 1980s. Margaret Simpson, Curator May 2019

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Summary

Object Statement

Christmas cracker (bon-bon) making machine and bon-bons in boxes (2), prototype, to make 'Southern Cross' and 'Argent' Christmas crackers, wood / metal / cardboard / paper, designed and patented by Franz Riedl Stelling, Roseville, New South Wales, Australia, 1932, made by Argent Manufacturing Co Ltd, 116 Wellington Street, Waterloo, New South Wales, Australia, 1930-1939

Physical Description

Cracker making machine, wood / metal, designed by Franz Stelling, Australia, 1937-1940 1. The Christmas cracker making machine comprises an iron frame, steel components and wooden table with two shelves. The machine was built to enable an operator to glue paper around a cylindrical cardboard core and put crimps into the paper close to the ends in order to keep the cracker's interior components and explosive strip in place. The method employed to achieve a satisfactory crimp was a variable orifice consisting of a number of blades which closed down around the bon-bon and gave the desired crimp. To hold the crimp in place, a strip of aluminium foil was used. The work heads on top of the machine are rack operated to come together. Beneath the wooden table are two cams which operated the heads. An operator stood by the machine and worked it by means of foot pedals. The right pedal activated the brake on the turning wheel while the left controlled one the shaft and wheels below the table. A conveyor table in two sections is attached to the rear of the machine at the level of the two work heads in order to carry the finished cracker away from the machine. 2/3:2/14 (12 crackers). 2 layers, 6 each, in box. Cracker covered in red crepe paper with small fringe at each end, band of silver paper with pressed decoration. Pressed gold paper cut-out in shape of lantern fixed to centre. 2/1 Lid, 2/2 Base - Cardboard box covered in white paper with central label in orange, yellow, blue, black and white with 'SOUTHERN / CROSS / CRACKERS' in white on black bands with exploding cracker in centre of blue circle. 3/3:3/14 12 crackers inside in single layer, covered in crepe paper. All in shades of brown ranging from dark brown to yellow. 6 cut-outs of flower barrows fixed across 2 crackers. 3/1 Lid, 3/2 Base - Rectangular lid in cardboard, covered in white paper with central image of purple foliate border. 'ARGENT CRACKERS' on white banners; shield in centre, gold background and image of exploding cracker with 3 elves.

DIMENSIONS

Height

1270 mm

Width

760 mm

Depth

1575 mm

PRODUCTION

Notes

This machine is the prototype of a bon-bon making machine made by the inventor, Franz (Frank) Stelling, in Sydney and patented in Australia in 1932.

HISTORY

Notes

Franz Riedl Stelling was born in London in 1882, the son of Gerhard Heinrich Stelling and Klare Elizabeth Stead whose descendants were German. He had arrived in Sydney by 1914 when he married Doris Kathleen Woodfield. By 1926 Franz and Doris were living at Shirley Road, Roseville, on Sydney's Upper North Shore, and they had two children. Franz became the managing director of the Argent Manufacturing Co., a firm which undertook work as manufacturers, printers and lithographers in Sussex Street, Sydney. As well as being an inventor, Franz was an accomplished engraver, achieving notoriety in the local Sydney press in 1922 when it was disclosed that whilst in New Zealand in 1907 he had engraved the alphabet on the head of a pin with the aid of a microscope. The same article related that as a 15-year-old in England, Franz did the artistic work for the banquet menus for King Edward's coronation in 1902 and other cards for Royal functions, undertook designs for New Zealand postage stamps and made a plaque for Australia's warship, HMAS Australia. A fire affecting the Sussex Street premises in 1923 may have been the impetus for Franz to move the firm, by then referred to as box manufacturers, to a new location on the corner of Cooper and Wellington Streets, Waterloo. Construction for a brick factory for the firm at that address was begun in April 1924. The Argent Manufacturing Co. was incorporated in 1924. As well as Franz, the other subscribers to this company were his wife, Doris K. Stelling, S.C. Clarson (probably Sidney Clifford Clarson with whom Stelling was in business making toiletries), Ada Clarson, G.W. Paterson (George Paterson was running the box factory by 1938), Marian Paterson and A.B. Dories. By 1924 the staff at the factory numbered 24. After patenting his bon-bon making machine in various countries around the world in the 1930s, Franz took his machine to England in the late 1930s. While he was away his factory was being managed by George Paterson and in 1938 it was reported that its staff had grown to 175, making 7 million boxes a year with the design and printing of the illustrations for the boxes undertaken there as well. At this time cigarette paper packing machines were also added. CARVED ALPHABET ON HEAD OF A PIN (1922, October 29). Sunday Times (Sydney, NSW : 1895 - 1930), p. 13. Retrieved May 3, 2019, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article128214017

SOURCE

Credit Line

Gift of Mrs J B Arrowsmith, 1978

Acquisition Date

21 April 1978

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