Mechanical Memories Magazine

Stamper Mystery Solved!
Well, maybe not conclusively, but I now have very convincing information relating
to the origins of the 'Mystery Metal Label Stamper', and it's manufacturer.
You will remember that back in the September issue, Brian King related a short story of
the mysterious metal label stamper he discovered on a visit to Queensland, Australia. The
machine was allegedly manufactured by the British Automatic Company Ltd, but no
information could be found on the company or it's product. I finally received a wealth of
information a couple of weeks ago from a collector residing on the other side of the
world, ironically the very place the machine was discovered - Australia. Bob Klepner,
who will be known to many collectors over here, sent me a long and informative email
with some great attachments. In particular, Bob sent a few pages from the operating
manual ofa much later machine produced by BAC (which Bob dates to the late 1940s),
in which they state:
'Although we have been concerned with the sale, operation and servicing of Coin
Operated Metal Tape Embossing Presses for over 40 years, this new press is the first
which we have actually designed and produced ourselves. Even so, all the experience
gained over the years has been built into our latest product, and we are confident that it
is the most attractive up-to-date and efficient on the market. '
So, by their own admission, the British Automatic Company Ltd did not manufacture the
mystery stamper; they just labelled it as their own. So who did? Well, I mentioned Roovers
Brothers, basically because it is the only name I could think of associated with this type of
machine. However, Bob believes that the mystery stamper is far more akin to the machines
produced by Simplex Manufacturing Co., New York. Apparently, the Simplex company
was set up by Herman Casler, the patentee of the mutoscope, in order to produce machines
in competition with Roovers. It would appear that the Simplex machines were not a great
success in America, and Bob says he knows of only one that has survived there.
I also learned from Bob that at least one BAC machine survives in this country, and
can be found at the National Railway Museum, York. This provides us with a rather nice
irony, as this is the very place Brian King lives! (York, not the Railway Museum). Bob
emailed a picture of the BAC stamper at York, together with a contemporary advertisement
for the Simplex machine, which at this time was the only picture of a Simplex I had.
Despite the very poor picture quality, I instantly identified similarities between the Simplex
and BAC machines. All the dimensions and proportions seemed to be right and the legs
appeared to be identical ( although that could be said of numerous different machines of that
era). But the most compelling evidence was the four motifs cast in the comers of the top
dial plate. Even allowing for the poor quality, these are clearly evident in the Simplex
advertisement, and so I determined that the BAC machines were almost certainly Simplex.
However, more information was yet to come.