Thursday, March 27, 2014

Wind Up the Automatons


by Linda Farmer Harris


In Lovington, New Mexico, Senator Jack Danglade (1898-1959) gave the children, and the young-at-heart, a marvelous Christmas present every year. His front and side yards were filled with animated and mechanical figures such as Santa and Mrs. Claus, elves, carolers, merry-go-grounds, Ferris wheels, reindeer, trains, and more. His estate maintained the animated displays after his death in a manner worthy of his intentions. As the years passed, we were very familiar with the extensive display. It was a thrill to see what new pieces were added and which old ones had been refurbished and put back on display.

The animated window display downtown in the Anthony's Department Store was a wonderland, too. Set on the corner of the town square, these 1940-1950’s mechanical figures was visible by every passing car. It was no wonder many families stopped, parked, and walked around the square during the Christmas holidays.

Photo Credit: Van Dillard 

In my travels over the years doing research, I've visited museums, private collections, and antique shops. I've enjoyed many 17th-19th century animated creations.

None, however, have been as awesome or enchanting as the 200-year-old clockwork boy. The automaton (automaton) sits in the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, PA, and writes his three poems in intricate, scrolling cursive. His drawings are amazing. Waiting for his caretaker, Charles Penniman, to bring him to life, the "Draughtsman-Writer," as the boy is known, is the most complex automaton of its kind.

 Charles Penniman, Curator, Draughtsman-Writer, Franklin Institute

When he arrived at the Franklin Institute, he was in pieces, a totally ruined brass machine. It is thought that part of his body was destroyed by fire. He was donated by the estate of John Penn Brock. It was known that he was created in London in the late 18th Century, but the identity of his inventor was a mystery. It wasn't until he was repaired, refurbished, and drew one of his ornamental poems that "Written by the automaton of Maillardet" was found along the edge. Henri Maillardet was a famed Swiss clockmaker and mechanician. 


The clockworks boy writes his three poems (two in French and one in English) and four drawings atop a box of 72 brass cams that control his movements. He has the largest memory of any such machine ever constructed. The fingers grasping the pen, guided by the movements of the cams, move side to side, front and back and up and down. Remarkable!









It's believed that Henri Maillardet made one other automaton that wrote in Chinese as a gift from King George III of England for the Emperor of China.

Automata is from the Greek word automatos "acting of one's own will." The first known use was recorded 1645. By the 19th Century, the middle class could afford to order an automaton from catalogues and large department stores for their own parlor. The figures were made with glass blown eyes, ivory teeth, eyelashes and wigs of human hair or mohair, and eyelids from thin kid skin. The word robot was thought to be introduced in 1920 by Czech writer Karel Capek, and not quite synonymous with automaton.

The Turk, created in 1770 Vienna by inventor Wolfgang von Kempelen, is another famous automaton. The chess playing automaton astounded audience and won matches against the era's most gifted players. The machine moved its own chess pieces, and instantly recognized illegal moves by its opponent. 


Napoleon Bonaparte, Benjamin Franklin, and Edgar Allen Poe were among its challengers. Poe reportedly became obsessed to expose how it worked. It's believed that the secret of the machine was an elaborate illusion, and that hidden inside the gear box was a human operator.

Not all automatons were created in the likeness of  humans. The bejeweled Ethiopian Caterpillar was created in 1820. Henri Maillardet, assisted by Jaquet Droz, is thought to be the creator. Just so you'd know, this automaton was sold at Sotheby's in Geneva in 2010 for $415,215.00. Get in line, there are only six known to exist.


The caterpillar is comprised of 11 jointed ring segments, framed by seed pearls, and decorated with translucent red enamel over an engine-turned ground, studded overall with gold-set rubies, turquoise, emeralds, and diamonds. Its underside is decorated with champleve black enamel.

Visit: http://www.fi.edu/learn/sci-tech/automaton/automaton.php?cts=instrumentation to see the boy in action.

Go to http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi2765.htm and see what you think about The Turk. 

If you built an automaton, what would it do?

Blessings,

Lin writes historical fiction for adults and children. She and her husband, Jerry, live on a hay and cattle ranch in Chimney Rock, Colorado. Her current work-in-progress is a historical series Voices in the Desert about the Southwestern Indian Detour Couriers is set in New Mexico. Book One: Treasures Among the Ruins features Cornelia Miller, a recent college graduate, who is searching for self-identity apart from a strong political, socially prominent family. Her enjoyment of genealogy and family history adds unique elements to her stories.




12 comments:

  1. In a town nearby, when my hubby was doing some blacksmithing demo for some prairie days thing, we went to lunch and to listen to a Native American healer talk about the Indians of the area's way of healing....well, that guy was cracked, BUT the little candy store restaurant was filled with old old automatons. It was made into some cave, and as you walked into the dark center of this cave in this building, in the walls were elves and other things "working" in this candy cave. It was insanely interesting thing to have in the middle of absolutely nowhere. I mean, there was just this small section of a candy store and in the middle of the cave were like 4-8 4 top tables for this cafe and these automotons were busily whirring around you. And more crazy, there is nothing on the internet about it. I don't know whether it was taken down since we left or that no one has ever put it up on the internet, but why wouldn't that be a "stop here and eat while elves mine the candy cave" attraction for like people that just like to day trip? None did anything fancy like the above automatons you mentioned, but what a collection it was for nowhere KS!

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    1. Melissa, this candy shop sounds adorable. Where is it? You're right, it could be a marvelous attraction. Thank you so much for telling me about it.

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  2. Fascinating, Linda! Thanks for sharing, I enjoyed your post.

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    1. Thank you, Linore. I can see an automaton, such as The Turk, fitting nicely into the regency's man's world you introduced on the 20th.

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  3. Very interesting stuff, Linda. It seems like I remember seeing one of those automated machines when I was younger. Thanks for an interesting post!

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    1. Hi Vickie, thank you. Senator Danglade's yard was one of those "I want my children to see" kind of things. Alas, the caretakers quit putting up the displays by the time our daughter was born and old enough to enjoy the moving figures.

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  4. Linda, I love this post, and I love automatons! Amazing what complex machines could be built before electricity was harnessed.

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    1. Thank you, Susan. I must have moving things in my blood. One of my play toys was a dancing man on a board my father made. I, too, love automatons. I'm always amazed by the mind of man.

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  5. Linda, this was fascinating and almost creepy. Wasn't there a movie recently that had an automaton in it?
    There used to be a giant, laughing Santa in the store window of a dept. store in my hometown when I was a little girl. The store has since closed and I wonder what happened to him?

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    1. Hi, Marilyn. Are you thinking about Hugo? The young boy, Hugo, believes the automaton will bring a message from his father. I haven't seen the movie yet, but it's on my rental list. Behind a vast antique shop in Texas, they had a protected-from-the-elements graveyard of moving figures in all stages of disrepair. I wanted to buy them all and find someone to restore them. By now, all these years later, they are all probably piles of rust.

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  6. A book with the pages flipping as a reader sits in a moving rocking chair would be my automaton! Thanks for the post. sharon, CA wileygreen1(at)yahoo(dot)com

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    1. Hi, Sharon, good to see you again. I like your automaton. I can visualize the peacefulness and contentment "she" exudes!

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