Army’s Copper Man

The Copper Man was created in the 1950s by Army scientists to test clothing for soldiers. I think the tubes going into his eyes makes him horror-movie material.

Santa Cruz Sentinel - May 17, 1962

In 1956 Havoline Motor Oil featured him in an ad. As far as I can tell, Havoline wasn't used in the Copper Man. The only connection between the two was that, according to Havoline, the Copper Man "thinks for itself" and so does its motor oil.

Life - June 11, 1956

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Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over forty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. Contact Us

Posted By: Alex - Sun Aug 07, 2022
Category: AI, Robots and Other Automatons | 1950s

Comments

Since the first item seems to be more of a press release than a news article, I googled Durene Association of America. I found that they trademarked the name Durene in 1943, but it was used in ads as early as 1929.

Posted by ges on 08/08/22 at 12:01 AM

Buster avant la lettre.

Posted by Richard Bos on 08/13/22 at 07:51 AM

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