Elektro
Elektro is a robot built by J.M. Barnett, Jack Weeks Sr., Harold Gorsuch,[1] and other engineers at the Westinghouse Electric Corporation's Mansfield, Ohio, facility between 1937 and 1938.
Physical specifications[edit]
Seven feet tall (2.1 m), weighing 265 pounds (120 kg), humanoid in appearance, he could walk by voice command, speak about 700 words (using a 78-rpm record player), smoke cigarettes, blow up balloons, and move his head and arms. Elektro's body consisted of a steel gear, cam and motor skeleton covered by an aluminum skin. His photoelectric "eyes" could distinguish red and green light.[citation needed]
Exhibit history[edit]
Elektro was on exhibit at the 1939 New York World's Fair and was joined at that fair in 1940, with "Sparko", a robot dog that could bark, sit, and beg to humans.
Several minutes of color sound footage of Elektro in action can be seen at 33:55 in the movie, The Middleton Family at the New York World's Fair, a fully-produced hour-long movie made by Westinghouse, which showcased the Westinghouse pavilion.[2]
Elektro toured North America in 1950 in promotional appearances for Westinghouse, and was displayed at Pacific Ocean Park in Ocean Park, Santa Monica, California, "which was in operation from 1958 to 1967, as part of the House of Tomorrow exhibit.[3]
Elektro appeared as "Thinko", in Sex Kittens Go to College (1960).
In pop culture[edit]
Elektro and Sparko both appear as minor characters in the novel "Mr. Atom" (1969) by Theodore Pratt. The two join fellow machines in an attempt to go on strike and overthrow humans.[4]
Elektro, renamed Gernsback, was featured in DC Comics' All-Star Squadron, the Squadron used the Perisphere as their headquarters and salvaged him to serve as their butler.
In 1992, the dance band Meat Beat Manifesto produced the song "Original Control (Version 2)" which prominently featured snippets of Elektro's monologues, quoting lines such as "I am Elektro" and "My brain is bigger than yours".
Property dispute[edit]
Sparko's fate is unknown.[1]
In the 1960s, his head was given to Harold Gorsuch, a retiring Westinghouse engineer.
In 2013, a replica was exhibited at The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.[5]
Elektro is currently the subject of a property dispute by Weeks' family, Schaut's heirs and the Mansfield Memorial Museum.[6][7][8]
References[edit]
- ^ a b "Elektro the Moto-Man Had the Biggest Brain at the 1939 World's Fair". spectrum.ieee.org. Retrieved 2021-07-26.
- ^
- "The Middleton Family at the New York World's Fair". YouTube. Retrieved 2023-01-22.
- The Middleton Family at the New York World's Fair (1939) Shows entire Elektro demo starting at 34 minutes into movie.
- ^ "Mansfield Memorial Museum displays Elektro in honor of robot's 75th anniverary". Richland Source. 2014-04-21. Retrieved 2024-04-19.
- ^ Pratt, Theodore (1969). Mr. Atom. Fort Lauderdale, Fla: Wake-Brook House. pp. 106–107. ISBN 9780874820034.
- ^ "Designing Tomorrow: America's World's Fairs of the 1930s Exhibit Preview". The Henry Ford Museum. April 2013. Archived from the original on 2014-02-20.
- ^
- https://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/story/news/local/2023/11/09/scott-schaut-said-to-many-people-elektro-going-to-henry-ford-museum/71475273007/
- https://archive.today/20240331054825/https://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/story/news/local/2023/11/09/scott-schaut-said-to-many-people-elektro-going-to-henry-ford-museum/71475273007/
- https://www.pressreader.com/usa/the-columbus-dispatch/20231113/281775633881873
- https://archive.today/20240331050610/https://www.pressreader.com/usa/the-columbus-dispatch/20231113/281775633881873
- https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/elektro-the-robot
- https://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/story/news/local/2023/11/09/scott-schaut-said-to-many-people-elektro-going-to-henry-ford-museum/71475273007/
- https://www.midstory.org/remembering-elektro-mansfield-and-the-world-of-tomorrow/
- https://www.theoldrobots.com/Electro.html
- https://cyberneticzoo.com/robots/1940-sparko-the-robot-dog-american/
- https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/296502651/
- http://www.npr.org/2012/04/02/149850779/americas-first-celebrity-robot-is-staging-a-comeback
- ^ Sharkey, Noel (December 17, 2008). "The Return of Electro". New Scientist. doi:10.1016/S0262-4079(08)63234-0.
- ^ Jacobs, Emma (April 2, 2012). "America's First Celebrity Robot is Staging a Comeback". National Public Radio.
External links[edit]
- http://themansfieldmuseum.org/elektro/
- Mansfield Memorial Museum
- YouTube Video footage of Elektro at the 1939 World's Fair
- The Middleton Family at the New York World's Fair (1939) Shows entire Elektro demo starting at 34 minutes into movie.
- Elektro visuals Tales of Future Past
- Elektro on IMDb
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