Elektro the Smoking Robot – At the 1939 World’s Fair
Elektro, the “Westinghouse Motor Man” filmed inside the Westinghouse Pavillion at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York. Elektro can not only smoke, he also has a giant ego.
User commands are given through a telephone with some kind of a voice recognition system. The whole presentation might look like a kitschy hoax from our eyes, but for the folks back in 1939 this technology was most likely orgasm inducing.
Taken from an excerpt from the 1939 movie The Middleton Family at the New York World’s Fair.
Chris Alm
Christopher founded Ultra Swank in 2005. Has a crush on mid-century graphic design, defunct airlines, Disneyland and the Century 21 Exposition. Is a collector of easy listening music from the 60s and 70s and a Swedish expat living in Barcelona, Spain.
