Help identifying a robot

[johns...@gmail.com]

Hello,
I was wondering if anyone here might be able to assist me in
identifying a robot from (I think) the late 1940s? It appears in
several collages (ca.1950) by the artist Eduardo Paolozzi, who I am
currently researching for my doctoral dissertation. So far I have had
no luck finding information about it, and would really appreciate
anything anyone could tell me. There is an image of it here:
http://johnston.rs.googlepages.com/robot
Thanks very much,
Ryan

[tempusmaster]

It would be quite useful to know more about the book in the photo.

[dan michaels]

Hi Ryan. Not a specific I.D., but more info on the Paolozzi collages.
You might try to rundown the book "Robots: Fact, Fiction, and
Prediction" by Jasia Reichardt, Penguin Books, 1978. We have a copy in
the local public liblrary. Tons of good pictures on pre-modern robots.

Your "robot" of interest is shown on page 53 of the book, in a
photograph of Paolozzi's called "Dr. Dekker's Entrance Hall", 1960-2,
and being from The History of Nothing collection, Anthony d'Offay,
London.

>From the looks of it, it's really not a robot, just a mechanical frame,
basically mechanical sculpture art. Something commissioned for a rich
man's drawing room. BTW, the book shows several other Paolozzi stills.

[Gordon McComb]

dan michaels wrote:
>
> Hi Ryan. Not a specific I.D., but more info on the Paolozzi collages.
> You might try to rundown the book "Robots: Fact, Fiction, and
> Prediction" by Jasia Reichardt, Penguin Books, 1978. We have a copy in
> the local public liblrary. Tons of good pictures on pre-modern robots.

This is the BEST book on robot history, IMO. I cherish my copy, and will
not loan it to anyone!

-- Gordon

[dan michaels]

:)

Looking inside, I see I bought my copy at a used book store sometime in
the past few years for $4.50. Also, some copies are available 2nd-hand
and cheap ...

http://www.google.com/custom?q=%22Robots%3A+Fact%2C+Fiction%2C+and+Prediction%22+Jasia.Reichardt

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/014004938X/ref=dp_olp_2/105-5460514-1182062

[dan michaels]

OK, I found another picture of the robot in the same book cited last
time. It's name was "Alpha", and it was built by Harry May and the
Mullard Valve Company. Picture shows Alpha sitting down and holding
valves [radio tubes] in its two hands at the London Radio Exhibition in
1932. It also read the morning newspaper in a loud voice by virtue of
having the paper contents recorded onto a phono record.

.

[johns...@gmail.com]

Hi everyone,
Thanks a lot for all the information (to which I'm only now replying as
I've been away for a few days) - you've saved me hours of thumbing
through old newspapers and magazines looking for clues. I'm on my way
down to the library now to get the robots book. Incidentally, I am yet
to identify what the page I posted on the web actually is - I found it
as a loose sheet in Paolozzi's archive. I am guessing it is from a
late 40s edition of Popular Mechanics or something similar, or perhaps
even a sci-fi mag like Astounding, however verifying this has proven
very difficult.
Thanks again,
Ryan

[Gordon McComb]

It looks like a book, not a magazine. I collect magazines like PopSci,
Popular Mechanics, and others of that era, and it's not a page design
they'd use. Few magazines would only have the page number, as this one
does; they'd also have, at the least, a volume number if not also the
name of the publication.

-- Gordon

[dan michaels]

johns...@gmail.com wrote:
> Hi everyone,
> Thanks a lot for all the information (to which I'm only now replying as
> I've been away for a few days) - you've saved me hours of thumbing
> through old newspapers and magazines looking for clues. I'm on my way
> down to the library now to get the robots book. Incidentally, I am yet
> to identify what the page I posted on the web actually is - I found it
> as a loose sheet in
>

BTW, do you have a link for ..... Paolozzi's archive.

[johns...@gmail.com]

The archive (known as the Krazy Kat Arkive after the cartoon character)
is held by the Victoria and Albert Museum's Archive of Art and Design
in London: http://www.vam.ac.uk/resources/archives/aad/index.html
However there is basically no information on the website itself. I
have a copy of the catalogue, which is text only, that I could email
you if you're interested. The archive basically contains part of
Eduardo's library (with a vast comic collection), several thousand
magazine cuttings he collected as potential source material, several
dozen scrapbooks with more cuttings (in one of which I found the robot
picture posted) and a vast collection of vintage and recent toys
(including numerous toy robots from memory). If you're interested in
comics you could check out the following exhibition catalogue:

Carlo and Leon Leigh, "Marvels from the Krazy Kat Arkive : an
exhibition of silver age Marvel comics", London: National Art Library,
[1997]. 42p. ill.

cheers,

[johns...@gmail.com]

I had a look through that book yesterday which was very helpful, and
I've subsequently managed to come up with plenty of information on
Alpha. If anyone's interested there's a 1934 Time article about its
trip to America available here:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,882583,00.html

Thanks again,
Ryan