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Elektro: A smoking, talking, and walking robot - 1939

2,195 views · Published 20 November 2013 · 3:55 · Indexed 27 October 2026

Channel: silvan500 · 2013 · Science & Technology

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Elektro: 1939 smoking robot saved from oblivion

Long before C-3PO and Wall-e, there was Elektro, a smoking, talking, and walking robot that wowed the World's Fair in 1939. Meet the seminal robot that has been rescued from the scrap heap of time.

You can walk into any toy store and buy a robot these days. No big deal. Back in 1939, a robot was an incredible oddity. That's why crowds flocked to see Elektro, a robot built by Westinghouse Electric for the New York World's Fair.

The talking Elektro described himself as a "smart fellow" with a "fine brain" consisting of 48 electrical relays that worked like a telephone switchboard. 

Elektro was a bit of a smarty-pants, making lame jokes, smoking cigarettes, and blowing up balloons. Elektro could walk (slowly), move his mouth, and turn his head. This was pretty advanced stuff for the day. The 7-foot-tall creation took voice commands via a telephone handset.

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