Monthly Archives: April 2014

The Mechanical Salesman Automaton

Quote from the YouTube information:

“A rare 1920s automaton built by the Character Display Company in Chicago Illinois. Stored away and forgotten for about 60 years, this Mechanical Salesman is in amazing condition, still works like new and has his original shipping/storage case. Written & Narrated by Kurt Reichenbach.”

This well-produced video showcases a highly animated display that has some similarities to the Issasse coffee-drinking automatons shown in the previous post. The eyes and eyebrows are very active, and the mouth moves with a flexible and seamless joint.  And like Issasse, the mechanism appears to have seven independent motions for the various features, head, and arms.  It is animated by six cams (with one of the end cams side-pinned to serve double duty), all driven by a worm gear speed reducer.  The motions include left arm, right arm, head tilt, head pan, eyebrows, eyes, and mouth.

The manufacturer was the Character Display Co., 3249 Lakewood Avenue, Chicago 13, Illinois.

Here is what appears to be a similar display outfitted a little differently and ringing a bell instead of waving a stick:

Read the rest

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