Creepy automaton from 1900s: Enigmarelle

By at 9:55 am Monday, Apr 23

Enigmarelle was a "wonderful, wax automaton" that thrilled vaudeville audiences in the 1900s.

Here's a newspaper article about it from 1908:

200704230948 "Thousands who attended the performance at the Bell Theater yesterday were entertained at the special feature provided by Enigmarelle, who walks, rides a bicycle, writes his name, turns corners of his own volition, and performs a number of feats only hitherto attributed to human beings." "The appearance of this most marvelous sensation was eagerly awaited, and hundreds of mechanics, electricians and other scientifically inclined, who were in the audience, all agreed that is was without question a marvel, the product of a great genius, and an education in itself."
The Vitaphone Varieties website has more photos an info. (I think it was a person in costume.) Link (Thanks, Phil!)

Mark Frauenfelder

My latest book, Made by Hand, now in paperback. Follow me on Twitter.

Where not otherwise specified, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution. Boing Boing is a trademark of Happy Mutants LLC in the United States and other countries.