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"Funniest show in the world - the huge pantomimic musical comedy. An Aerial Honeymoon invented and patented by John F. Byrne. A compartment for two. Passengers making it lively for the old bridegroom on his wedding trip." The boisterous comedy "An Aerial Honeymoon," which began its run in 1914, was produced by the pantomime brothers John, James, Matthew and Andrew Byrne. Color lithograph. View full size.
They're probably using "invented and patented" to mean that John Byrne was the playwright, since this is a play, not an invention. It's a play on words, since the fictional setting of the play is something that were it real would be an invention subject to patent.
[John Byrne was an actual inventor, whose patents included several related to the staging of dramatic works. - Dave]
Even on the eve of World War I, airships were depicted in a fanciful way. The Zeppelins of the era could be structured like this, with large cabins and exterior catwalks. One prop-driven plane-I think either a Fokker or a Dornier of this era, actually had a catwalk on top of the fuselage so that brave/foolish passengers could climb out for a stroll at altitude.
It's probably akin to people who say things like "I patented this dance move." They don't mean they literally filled out the paperwork to file the patent.
A pantomime stage show that was patented?
A quick patent search on John Byrne didn't find me anything that looked relevant.
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