The Mansfield Memorial Museum is hard at work preserving just one piece of our rich history: Westinghouse Electric Company’s contribution to the nation’s engineering professionals and movie industry. This weekend, the museum featured the Exhibit of Elektro in celebration of the robot’s 75th birthday.
Originally constructed by Westinghouse for the 1939 New York World’s Fair, Elektro has certainly seen his fair share of the country. Elektro is over seven feet tall and when operational had a vocabulary of 700 words and could perform twenty-six movements.
Elektro was a feature at the Pacific Ocean Amusement Park in Santa Monica, which was in operation from 1958 to 1967, as part of the “House of Tomorrow” exhibit. Elektro attracted hundreds of visitors with his ability to talk and “smoke.”
Elektro also starred in the movie “Sex Kittens Go to College,” a B movie made in California in 1960. Elektro shared the spotlight with some then-unknowns like Mamie Van Doren, Tuesday Weld, Louis Nye, Martin Milner and Conway Twitty. Many of these actors later became well-known movie stars.
After his brush with fame at the park and in the movies, Elektro returned to Westinghouse Electric Company in Mansfield. Harold Gorsuch, who helped design Sparko the dog (Elektro’s companion), was given Elektro’s head upon retiring from Westinghouse. Eventually, the head ended up in the hands of Jack Weeks.
About 10 years ago, the Mansfield Memorial Museum put together the Elektro Exhibit, after Weeks donated the head for display and it was reunited with the body. Now, the original Elektro’s traveling days are over.
“The original Elektro works, but we don’t want him to break, so he doesn’t have electricity,” said Director of the Mansfield Memorial Museum Scott Schaut. “He will never be restored. He’s historically the oldest surviving American robot in the world. There’s a Swiss one that is also about his age that still survives. That’s why copies were made so that Elektro can go on traveling exhibits. The copy I made has been in the National Building Museum, it travelled to the Museum of NYC, and the Ford Museum.”
Soon, Elektro will be joined by his companion, Sparko.
“The original Elektro stays in the museum. It doesn’t leave because of his historical importance,” Schaut said. “The dog, Sparko, made in 1940, is missing. I know there were three made and that two of three have been destroyed. I’m hoping there’s one floating out there some place. Maybe one day it will turn up. Then, we can reunite part of the family.”
The other family member Schaut will focus on next is Willy Vocalite, Elektro’s dad.
“He is my next project,” Schaut said. “He was the model for the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz. He was at the premiere of the movie at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. Elektro was the model and inspiration for the robot in “The Day the Earth Stood Still” and he attended that movie premiere too.”
Elektro holds another distinction besides movie star and an inspiration for robot characters.
“He is not one dimensional in influence and what he did,” Schaut explained. “It’s important that these robots are preserved…These robots not only made an impact on numerous people, but also a lot of boys because of the time period, and involved them in becoming mechanical and electrical engineers. As Elektro traveled throughout the 1950s, boys were inspired to make a copy of the robot, and actually got enamored with mechanics. What they contributed [to society], I have no idea. But these robots had a huge social impact.’
The Exhibit of Elektro on Saturday, April 19,featured special cakes featuring photos of Elektro, and Jack and Lowell (his brother) Weeks cut the cakes. In addition to the Elektro display, the event features a massive collection of Elektro-related artifacts, including photos and movie footage.
davidbuckley.net No images attached. Schaut said press release contains pics of three robots. The robot in the center is the original Elektro made in 1939.
“It’s important that these robots are preserved…These robots not only made an impact on numerous people, but also a lot of boys because of the time period, and involved them in becoming mechanical and electrical engineers,” said Scott Schaut
