cyberneticzoo.com

Peter Clare – Egremont, Cumbria.
I keep a mechanical elephant called Snowdrop. It moves its legs and its head, lifts its trunk, squirts water from its trunk and bellows. Snowdrop can carry about six children and will be on display at the Barbican, London this summer.
Tue Jan 25 09:27:12 2005

Peter Clare fashioned mechanical elephant almost life-size average specimen of the Indian breed, moved her legs, which raises the trunk, with a twitching leatherette skin folds. He has done this thing, after City Council has not kept its promise to bring urban children at Christmas this elephant from the zoo. Alas, the price of an elephant stood up, and the mayor was forced to explain to distraught children, that the city can not afford such waste of resources. Childcare unlocked the creative potential of Clare.

Jeremy Deller (Palais de Tokyo – Art Archive) said "this thing impressed not only by its "Victorian futurism", she performed as proof that spent thousands of hours, but not thousands of banknotes, and it is – a labor of love."

Click on the play button.

Source: Popular Mechanics Feb 1938.

G.G. Hutton sells his partnership to George Washington Shrum.  Most images of "Jumbo" post the 1939-40 N.Y. World's Fair are shown as "Rosie" and owned by Shrum.

Most of the photos below are sourced from Life magazine. Life have over 70 images, I've just selected  a few.

Lucky for the little boy that this is only a 'mechanical' elephant, stationary whist it undergoes a tyre change.

Source: Miami News Aug 29, 1938. 

Source: The Billboard Jan 31, 1942.

Source: The Billboard Jun 21, 1952.

Source: The Billboard  Feb 7, 1953.

Source: The Billboard Aug 27, 1953.

It is quite possible this elephant was built earlier than 1938, but I haven't found any earlier sources as yet.

A book cover with elephant. the article says the book was published in 1948.

The cover reads the book title "Happy modeling & handicraft" and the author "Tokyo metropolitan kogei (craft) high school instructor Jiro Aizawa". The elephant was made by himself (the pet name is "Tamakichi-kun").

Thank you Hisashi Moriyama for providing a translation of this page.
 

Note: I will eventually put all my other Aizawa robot information in my blog.

Caption: 森永製菓のロボット象、街を行く＝熊本市内 (English translation: Morinaga robot elephant goes to the town–city Kumamoto)

Other than the image, I have little other information about this mechanical elephant. Image was taken in 1958 in Japan, I believe.

RH update Feb 2011 – Thanks to Hisashi Moriyama from Japan I now  have the following information.

Robot Elephant was made for campaign by Morinaga, a confectionery company.
http://www.morinaga.co.jp/museum/gallery/show02/gallery_3.html
The actual manufacturer is “Kowa display co., inc.”
The elephant was named “Toffee-kun”.
2.4m high, 3.15m long.
25h.p. automobile engine.
Real ivories were attached.

“Toffee-kun” visited 162 cities, the visiting lasted about a year. The campaign was very effective.

ロボット象トッフィー君

ロボット象トッフィー君が全国を行脚
キャ ラメルの絶対的な王座は、戦後も黄色のサック入り森永ミルクキャラメルが占めていた。さらに昭和30年代前後には、新しい味のキャラメルが続々と登場。英 国風のトッフィータイプのものは、アソートキャンデーの一種として以前からつくられていたが、いわゆるポケット物として昭和32年に初めて発売された森永 トッフィーキャラメル（20円）は、強力な店頭宣伝に特徴があった。このキャラメルのサックには英国宮殿の近衛兵の姿がデザインされていた。これにちなん で等身大のブリキ看板を数千枚つくり、全国の有力菓子店々頭に配置、大々的に人目を引く作戦に出た。
また、同じ年に森永は東京の後楽園遊園地にマスコミ各社を招き、世界初のロボット象の発表会と命名式を実施。本物の牙をつけた高さ2.4メートル、体長3.15メートルの巨体をもった精巧な象はトッフィー君と名付けられた。
こ のトッフィー君が全国を行脚し、各地でのパレードのにぎわいが新聞やラジオ、テレビなどで盛んに報道された。25馬力の自動車用エンジンを搭載し、首や鼻 を動かしながらのっしのっしと歩くさまは、遠目には本物と区別がつけられなかった。訪問先は全国162都市、総行程2万キロ、ロボット象の歩行総距離は 660キロ、訪問期間は約1年に及び、大きな宣伝効果を上げた。

Google translation (uncorrected – see brief form above):

You toffee robot elephant

Pilgrimage across the country you toffee robot elephant
Caramel absolute throne, occupied by Hisashi Mori milk caramel into a yellow sack after the war. Further around 1955, appeared one after the new caramel flavor. Toffitaipu ones like Britain, which had previously been made from a type of Asotokyande, Toffikyarameru Hisashi Mori was released in 1957 as the first of the so-called pockets (£ 20) is a powerful counter propaganda were characterized. A sack of caramel, it was not designed the figure of the Palace Guards UK. To make several thousand life-size tin signs named after this place we head the country’s leading confectionery and went in a big eye-catching campaign.
The same year Hisashi Mori in the press inviting Korakuen amusement park in Tokyo, conducted a naming ceremony and presentation of the world’s first robot elephant. Put the real teeth height 2.4 m, length 3.15 m giant elephant with a sophisticated and you are named toffee.
This pilgrimage to the country you toffee, newspapers and radio around the hustle and bustle of the parade was reported extensively in television. Equipped with a 25-horsepower automobile engine, our walking, moving Nosshinosshi neck and nose, a distance and did not put genuine distinction. Visiting 162 cities nationwide, 20,000 km of total stroke, total distance 660 km walking robot elephant, during the visit about a year and raised the great hype effect.

The Elephant appears to have rigid legs with powered wheels. Its head is also larger than other Mechanical Elephants I have seen.

See other early Mechanical Elephants, Horses, and other Walking Animals here.

Frank Smith with his very first Mechanical Elephant outside his garage. (Image courtesy Larry Gavette)

Eric Smith, Frank Smith's son with their Elephant. Note the distinguishing tusks. (Image supplied by Larry Gavette)

(Image courtesy Larry Gavette)

Letter by Eric Smith in response to Larry Gavette enquiry 24 Apr 1983. Full of information pertaining to Mechanical Elephants. As at 2011, Eric is still with us and living in Morecambe, UK.

See pdf  

For an update on Eric Smith's life story see pdf here

See full British Patent here.

See the Macades Mechanical Elephants in a separate post here.

Mr Eric Smith was contacted by the Postal Code officer to build an elephant for them, but he recommended Luneside Engineering to build one. Possibly the image above is the next generation elephant being built at Luneside Engineering in Halton, Lancaster. [Update May 2011 – David Taylor – ex Luneside employee, says that this workshop is not at Luneside.]

The original PoCo (Postal Code) mechanical elephant.

This elephant was rented out by a school. It has the plate saying "MADE BY F. SMITH & SON, KING STREET, MORECAMBE".

All above photo's courtesy Larry Gavette.