The Davenport Collection
- a growing resource on magic and entertainment history

Drinking duck novelty made by Magnatex Ltd

This duck, now sadly the worse for wear, is an entertaining example of psuedo perpetual motion. To start it off, a glass of water is placed in front of the duck and its head is tilted forward so that its beak gets wet. The duck will then continue to swing backwards and forwards until its head tilts down so far that its beak is again in the water. This process is repeated until there is no more water for the duck to drink. This novelty is basically a heat engine. Details of how it operates may be found under ‘Drinking bird’ on Wikipedia. This particular duck was made by Magnatex Ltd, Harlington, Middlesex, United Kingdom. The duck is in its original box with very detailed instructions on how to assemble it and achieve the best possible drinking performance.

Item Details

Size Length of duck 150mm.
Date Mid 20th century.
Organisations
Key Phrases
Category
Ref no N2812