DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT In presenting this thesis or dissertation as a partial fulfillment of the requirements for an advanced degree from Emory University, I hereby grant Emory University and its agents the non-exclusive license to archive, make accessible, and display my thesis or dissertation in who or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known, including display on the world wide web. I understand that I may select some access restrictions as part of the online submission of this thesis or dissertation. I retain all ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation ____________________________________ July 16, 2014__________ Sarah Toton Date From Mechanical Men to Cybernetic Skin-Jobs: A History of Robots in American Popular Culture By Sarah Toton Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Institute of the Liberal Arts ________________________________________________ Cristine Levenduski, Ph.D. Co-Chair ________________________________________________ Kevin Corrigan, Ph.D. Co-Chair ________________________________________________ Ted Friedman, Ph.D. Outside Co-Chair ________________________________________________ Karla Oeler, Ph.D. Committee Member Accepted: ________________________________________________ Lisa A. Tedesco, Ph.D. Dean of the James T. Laney School of Graduate Studies _______________________ Date ! From Mechanical Men to Cybernetic Skin-Jobs: A History of Robots in American Popular Culture By Sarah Toton M. A., Emory University, 2009 B. A., University of Iowa, 2002 Advisor: Cristine Levenduski, Ph.D. An abstract of A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the James T. Laney School of Graduate Studies of Emory University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy In American Studies, Institute of the Liberal Arts 2014 A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Emory University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Institute of the Liberal Arts Emory University 2014 ! Abstract From Mechanical Men to Cybernetic Skin-Jobs: A History of Robots in American Popular Culture By Sarah Toton This dissertation consists of five chapters that track how robots evolve through different kinds of media and it offers some insight into the changing nature of what it means to be a robot in American popular culture between a ninety-year span from roughly the 1920s to the 2010s. The first chapter provides an early history of Westinghouse robots and representations of robots in American print media. The second chapter offers a star study of the Depression Era robot Elektro, the Westinghouse Moto-Man. The third chapter focuses on the character of Robby the Robot and how he fits into Cold War American suburbia. And, the last two chapters look at robots in the science fiction television series, Battlestar Galactica, first through the primary text and then through the fan-generated paratexts around the series. The aim of this dissertation is to address how ideas about technological possibilities are packaged and sold to American audiences; and how, in turn, Americans interpret, interact, and even play with different representations of technology. It’s important to understand that a technology is not just a specific device like a phonograph or toaster, but part of an ongoing social process. New technologies are born from, and informed by, distinct social contexts, and the ways people see technologies are largely informed by their social world. In these chapters, products of new technology go beyond the mechanics of the featured robot to inform the social landscape from which it was created. ! From Mechanical Men to Cybernetic Skin-Jobs: A History of Robots in American Popular Culture By Sarah Toton M. A., Emory University, 2009 B. A., University of Iowa, 2002 Advisor: Cristine Levenduski, Ph.D. A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the James T. Laney School of Graduate Studies of Emory University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy In American Studies, Institute of the Liberal Arts 2014 A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Emory University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Institute of the Liberal Arts Emory University 2014 ! ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ! Many people have helped me develop, research and write this dissertation and it is with pleasure now that I can thank them for so many years of help. I am indebted to my dissertation committee: Cristine Levenduski, Kevin Corrigan, Karla Oeler, and Ted Friedman. From helping me write my first thesis statement to reading my completed manuscript, Dr. Levenduski, Dr. Corrigan, and Dr. Oeler helped me shape a late night thought about a Westinghouse robot into a thoughtful dissertation. At every step of the way Dr. Friedman was a sounding board for my ideas, a patient and critical reader, and a constant cheerleader. He pushed me forward and offered needed guidance over numerous lunches at Doc Chey’s in Emory Village. Dr. Friedman’s book, Electric Dreams: Computers in American Culture, inspired me to write this dissertation even before I met him. I am also deeply grateful for my time spent working in the Robert W. Woodruff library on the journal Southern Spaces with Allen Tullos, Franky Abbott, Mary Battle, Katie Rawson, and Sarah Melton. Without the experience of managing an online journal, I would never have been introduced to the fields of digital scholarship or online publishing, both of which helped me find my position at Turner Broadcasting System. Many friends lent a great deal of their time and energy to helping me realize this project. Robin Conner dropped her weekend plans to come read the first draft of my manuscript. Zeb Baker guided me through last-minute formatting questions via email and text messages while he nursed a sprained ankle. Paul O’Grady and Martin Lüthe continually let me interrupt, hound, annoy and request all manners of favors from last- minute review sessions to needed lunches and drinks. I must also thank my colleagues at CNN.com, CNNMoney.com and NBA.com and my coworkers in Turner’s Media Software and Services group. Working in newsrooms over the past few years has made me realize that no matter how dicey, unstable and horrific matters are, we always find a way to work through it. Thanks especially to my digital publishing colleagues, who every day inspire me to be a better manager and a better person: Keith Nielsen, John Croft, Eric Diez, Jay Sandhaus, Andy Bergmann, Yumie Toka, Randy Winbush, Tao Wang, Brenda Hamilton, Matt Clark, and Ning Tan. Finally, I wish to thank my husband, Micah, and my parents, Sandy and Gene Toton, for their countless months of support, encouragement, and love throughout my studies. This dissertation is dedicated to them. ! TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1 Chapter 1 30 Westinghouse’s Early Electrical Men Chapter 2 96 Elektro and Selling the World of Tomorrow Chapter 3 164 Robby and a Consumer Planet Chapter 4 207 Battlestar Galactica and Reimagining the Robot Chapter 5 244 Battlestar Galactica and Curated Fandoms Bibliography 301 ! Introduction Robots and Worlds of the Past and Tomorrow In spring 1939, Westinghouse revealed Elektro the Moto-Man, a seven-foot mechanical robot, at the New York World’s Fair. Elektro could walk, count, smoke and say snappy one-liners like “I see a lot of hot numbers in the audience.” Impressed with this myriad of motor functions, many visitors to the fair commented that Elektro was “just like a real man!” Elektro performed several shows daily for fairgoers, displaying the wonders of electrical control through its human-like actions. In addition to Elektro, Westinghouse displayed a myriad of other new technologies including a television camera, power loom, and an assortment of brave new household appliances. While these other Westinghouse products made their ways into homes and workplaces, Elektro did not. He was not designed for direct sale, but to represent the potential of Westinghouse innovation. In a sense, while Westinghouse sold dishwashers, Elektro sold Westinghouse. He did this not by delivering a company sales pitch, but by standing for “technology” in a more abstract sense. Elektro’s performance of technology consisting of unseen gears neatly packaged under his shiny gold shell was the most popular performance in the Westinghouse Pavilion, and one of the most popular attractions at the fair. Fifty years after the fair’s close, Elektro received top billing in the documentary The World of Tomorrow. Here again, now in celluloid, stands Elektro, talking, posing, and representing still the wonders of Westinghouse technology. Elektro stands as one in a line of robots designed to show technological possibilities to a mass American audience. Prior to Elektro, the Westinghouse Electric Corporation created a series of show robots to demonstrate Westinghouse innovations across the United States. Each Westinghouse robot offered a representation of the company’s current ! 1! technology, a marker in the company’s evolution as a brand, and an important cultural object reflecting how Americans may have been thinking about new technologies at the time. Elektro was the last and most intricate of the Westinghouse robots, but he certainly was not the last attempt to use the robot character to demonstrate innovation. As Elektro’s popularity rises then wanes by the middle part of the 1950s, another robot emerges in the Cold War era: Robby the Robot from the 1956 MGM film Forbidden Planet, a robot character who offers a lens onto an ensuing widespread commodification through additional film and television appearances and several children’s toys. The franchises built around Robby the Robot offer a useful study of how audiences, manufacturers and filmmakers create, modify and change the meaning of a robot, creating different representations of future technological capabilities.