Televox Entertains High School Students (1930)
Wednesday, May 5, 2010 at 10:38PM ;)
The November 20, 1930 Muscatine Journal and News-Tribune (Muscatine, IA) ran a short blurb announcing that Televox -- a robot you might remember as the husband of one Mrs. Katrina Van Televox -- would be making an appearance at a local Iowa high school.
"Televox," the mechanical man, one of the outstanding miracles of modern science, will perform for the students of the Muscatine high school at the high school auditorium Friday at 8:40 a. m., Henry Van Hettinga, principal, announced today. This will be the high school's first taste of the High School Assembly association talent this year.
This is a treat that is always in demand in the schools which are members of the assembly association. This mechanical human, often called the "servant of the future," was built in the East Pittsburg laboratories of the Westinghouse Electric company. It will be demonstrated Friday morning by W.A. Wheeler, an expert electrician.
One of his special tricks is that of using the telephone in much the same manner as a human being. He will perform many other interesting tasks. An admission of 10 cents will be charged.
Previously on Paleo-Future:
- Mechanical Wonder Maiden (1930)
- Rastus Robot, the Mechanical Negro (1931)
- Gadgets for the Home (1930s)
Reader Comments (6)
I guess they never thought that the robot could answer the phone without having to actually pick up the receiver. I wonder what other interesting tasks he did. Did he do them with Katrina? =O
Valuable information and excellent design you got here! I would like to thank you for sharing your thoughts and time into the stuff you post!! Thumbs up
tahanks admin..
please post more often i love this blog. thanks
(although I think your banner is a little too web 2.0 for how vintage the content is)
I love the fact that they came up with "Televox" for the name...great play on words. Funny but you'd never see an expert electrician dealing with tiny motor relays and circuits today...leave that to the engineers!
Tucson Electrician