2008/35

Little Nipper,

James Henry Atkinson (Designer), Procter Brothers (Manufacturer)

Little Nipper' mouse trap designed/patented by James Henry Atkinson of Leeds 1898-1899. From 1899 it was advertised/sold by Procter Brothers.
The 'Little Nipper' mouse trap was designed and patented (No. GB27488) by James Henry Atkinson of Leeds 1898-1899. From 1899 it was advertised and sold by Procter Brothers. It is a flat snap type mouse trap, which kills the mouse by breaking its back. Instead of relying on a mouse being attracted by a bait, the treadle is cut out of the whole width of the base so that the trap would be sprung by a mouse running over the treadle. For this reason, the base it twice as thick as that of early flat snap traps.

Mouse trap: wood, metal

See Figure 17b, p.31 in 'British Mouse Traps and their Makers' by David Drummond, 2008., The 83 mouse traps and 2 mole traps in this collection were acquired by David Drummond during the course of his research into the history of mouse traps. David Drummond is a zoologist who spent much of his professional life in advice and research on the control of rodents. Since retiring as the Ministry of Agriculture’s Chief Scientific Officer in charge of the Central Science Laboratories concerned with Plant Pests and Diseases in 1988, he has published many articles and books about mouse traps, their inventors and manufacturers, including ‘British Mouse Traps and their Makers’ (Mouse Trap Books, Dorking 2008). For further information, see http://www.mousetrapbooks.com.

Leeds, Leeds

1899

Wood, Metal