Sparks An Electricity Lecturette (1931)

Animation by Joe Noble. Two cartoon characters representing ancient Greeks demonstrate how a piece of amber which is rubbed will cause an electric charge. One of the men holds out the charged stone and the charge it gives off pulls off the other man s toupee Dr Gilbert, who was the Court Alchemist to Queen Elizabeth made the earliest electrical machine a ball of sulphur, rubbed by the hand. C, U of a primitive device with a handle which turns. We then see an animated sequence showing what might have happened in Elizabethan times when the machine was demonstrated. Queen Bess says: Beshrew me Gilbert, tis a wondrous engine. Have a care Gilbert, this smacks of witchcraft A spark flies out of the machine and hits the Queen on the nose. Words come out of her nose This is the London Midland Regional calling The Queen runs after Dr Gilbert with a rolling pin. She hits him on the head. Later, the ball of sulphur gave way to the glass cylinder machine a great C, U of this machine b