An ear nibbling invention to heat up Valentine's Day

By Fionnuala Bourke on Dec 11, 08 04:08 PM

SHE'S been called eccentric. She's been called wacky. And she's been called weird.

But the name-calling didn't stop Midland inventor Hazel Jones from creating some of the most innovative gadgets of the 1990s.

Inspired by motherhood, the Walsall-born inventor produced an array of amazing devices which brought joy to people's lives.

Among her many creations were an ear nibbler and chin chucker - especially produced for lovers on Valentine's Day.

The playful devices were intended to help partners to tickle and nibble each other into submission.

She also made a blush cooler, biscuit dunker, tea-leaf steam iron, fluff collector, currant stretcher and a chocolate safe for chocolate buttons.

When interviewed by the Sunday Mercury in 1993 Hazel, then aged 30, said: "I don't think I'm eccentric and I certainly never intended to be. It just happened.

"I like to work with things which get ignored, like belly button fluff and currants.

"Usually they make people laugh, some are amazed by them and others say, 'Why on earth have you done this?'."

Hazel's customers used to pay up to £400 for one of her creations in the 1990s.

An Australian fan bought a currant stretcher for £200 to take home with him as a souvenir of his trip to Britain.

Hazel busily toiled away at her workshop at the Studio of London's Young Vic Theatre producing her masterpieces.

Her story cannot be told without giving mention to the Tea-Splatters, for throwing minute quantities of tea around, and the Ticket Winders, Shredders and Fancy-Edge Rippers, to while the time away on buses.

They may not have changed the world, but they certainly made life more interesting and raised many a smile.