Professor Butts (can opener)
date: label: Date made
content: 1929
label: Date made
content: July 27, 1929
name: label: original artist
content: Goldberg, Rube
label: publisher
content: King Features Syndicate
notes: label: Description
content: Camera-ready pen and ink drawing by Rube Goldberg dated July 27, 1929 for his comic invention series <I>The Inventions of Professor Lucifer Gorgonzola Butts.</I> Goldberg drew for the series between 1914 and 1964.
label: Description
content: Cartoon text: <I>Professor Butts falls on his head and dopes out a simplified can-opener while he is still groggy. Go outside and call up your home. When phone bell rings, maid (A) mistakes it for an alarm clock - she awakens and stretches, pulling cord (B) which raises end of ladle (C). Ball (D) drops into net (E) causing golf club (F) to swing against ball (G), making a clean drive and upsetting milk can (H). Milk spills into glass (I) and the weight pulls switch on radio (J). Waltzing mice (K) hearing music and proceed to dance, causing revolving apparatus (L) to spin and turn. Spikes (M) scratch tail of pet dragon (N) who in anger emits fire igniting acetylene torch (O) and burning off top of tomato can (P) as it rotates. When not opening cans, the dragon can always be kept busy chasing away income tax investigators and prohibition officers.</I>
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New York, New York City
topic: label: Subject
content: Comics
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content: Work and Industry: Graphic Arts
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content: Popular Entertainment
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content: Cultures & Communities
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content: Family & Social Life
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content: Sports & Leisure
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content: Art
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Mrs. Rueben L. Goldberg
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: GA.23485
label: catalog number
content: 23485
label: accession number
content: 1972.299186
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Drawing
label: Object Type
content: drawing
label: Other Terms
content: Drawing; Pen and Ink
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: ink (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 23.5 cm x 55.7 cm; 9 1/4 in x 21 15/16 in