This extremely creepy head was crafted by one G.R Smith, who resided off of Culford Road; close to Dalston Junction.
The device was essentially an early animatronic- three magnetised bars, which were hidden behind the face and operated by a basic keyboard- were capable of twisting the eyes and mouth into a variety of shapes. Before such movement occurred, a bell inside the head’s box would ring to alert the attention of unfortunate passers-by.
Following the Great Exhibition, G.R Smith’s son gifted the head to the Savage Club in Bristol. Then, in 1951, it was returned to London to be exhibited in the Victoria and Albert Museum as part of the Festival of Britain Celebrations.
That appears to be the last time the ‘Comic Electric Telegraph’ was seen in public. If it survives, its present whereabouts are a mystery…