This electrostatic generator is only eight and a half inches tall. Gerald l'E Turner says that toy generators of this type were popular in the later 19th century. The base is cast iron from the same era as the cast-iron toy cars, banks, and other models occasionally seen on the "Antiques Road Show".

Like the Three Bears, some technologists like them big; some like them small; and some like them Just Right. Most of the static generators in our collection come from the "just right" school of thought. They're big enough to make a reasonable amount of electricity, but small enough to handle and store conveniently. Some of the 18th-century machines got quite large - six feet long or so. And doctors who used static electricity in their medical practices around 1900 often boasted of having the largest machine available. We have several in our collection, and they are monsters to move once they're set up and working.

But sometimes it's fun to have a tiny machine on your desk, or something for your kid to play with that's too small to do harm. On a machine of this sort, you get large shocks from the Leyden Jar; and the Leyden jar on this machine is too small to give dangerous shocks.

These small machines are excellent toys, and good for small demonstrations-of-principle. They'd not be useful for solid scientific work.

Museum Hours: Tuesday - Saturday 10 to 5
Thursdays 10 am to  8pm 
Closed Major Holidays
Library Hours: Monday - Friday 9 to 4:30

Admission: $7 Adults; $5 Students & Seniors; Children 3 and under are FREE!

© The Bakken Updated: April 6, 2007