Kipper Koolstone . . . . The A to Z of Slightly Strange Unknown Victorian Inventors and Explorers

Kipper Koolstone

Life was not easy for Kipper Koolstone, because life as a black Irish American in New York meant he was always fighting the system and prejudice in order to be accepted.  And gentle Victorian Middle Class Society was all very prim and proper (or so it seemed) and something of a closed group so the arrival of a highly intelligent Black Irish American amongst them was more than some could cope with.  He was a brilliant if little known inventor and his Koolstone Grapple Gate is used to this day in the Llama farms of Chile where Mr Koolstone’s name is highly regarded. And a large (naked, for reasons explained later) statue of Kipper Koolstone still stands in the main square in Santiago, hand raised holding a large Armadillo.  Interestingly it is thought to be one of the world’s most photographed statues.

When Kipper Koolstone announced that he had finally invented a perpetual motion machine which he called the Koolstone Kinetic Keeper he was surprised and down heartened that there was very little interest shown. The problem being that the science world was jealous, and as a black Irish American few were going to acknowledge his great achievement. In the end pure frustration led to him being photographed naked with his invention, as he hoped that folk would finally sit up and take notice, particularly the press.  Well it certainly worked and the world of science finally admitted that it was one of the biggest things they had seen in years, all those parts rotating and swinging about as they did.

However the world is a fickle place and Kipper Koolstone found that he had become an overnight photographic sensation and he was in constant demand as a photographic model across the world. This meant he had little time for inventing and his Koolstone Kinetic Keeper is now in the depths of the Science Museum in London (dusty), but is said to be still operating. As for Kipper Koolstone himself, he retired to a small South Pacific island keeping a few llamas and making the odd guest appearance in What the Butler Saw Machines for old time’s sake.