Is It A Coffin? Is It A Cradle? No, It's A 'Wife Tamer'

This odd "wife taming device" was constructed by Henry Tapp in 1862. He built six, marketing them as a solution to nagging wives. The one featured above was the only one to survive and was recently featured on Antiques Roadshow. Writing on the side of the "wife tamer" reads: The inscription down the side reads: ‘Hen Pecked Club’s Peace Box No. 6, Patent Cure for a Cross Wife.’ The museum’s Dale Keeton said: ‘The idea of this Hen Pecked Club was that you made your wife very, very happy – black her shoes, make her porridge, carry her handbag. ‘If after all that she still henpecked you, you would get some of your friends round, draw back the lid, put your wife in and rock her gently until she was asleep. ‘I think it was just a really good excuse for a load of guys to go to the pub.’

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