Rube Goldberg!

Born July 4, 1883 Died December 7, 1970!

By Mary Belli!

http://inventors.about.com/od/qrstartinventors/a/Rube-Goldberg.htm!

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Rube Goldberg Is Remembered On A Commemorative Stamp!

Courtesy of USPO - US Stamp Issued 1995!

Rube Goldberg was an American inventor, engineer, and a Pulitzer Prize winning political
cartoonist. Rube invented very complicated and often impractical devices that were know to do the
most absurd of actions. These inventions were fondly referred to as Rube Goldberg machines, and
Rube often publicized his inventions by depicting them in his cartoons.!
Rube Goldberg Background!

Rube Goldberg was born Reuben Garrett Lucius Goldberg on July 4, 1883, in San Francisco,
California. His parents were Max and Hannah Goldberg. His father was a San Francisco police and
fire commissioner. Rube was the second of four children with an older brother Garrett, a younger
brother Walter, and a younger sister Lillian.!
Rube was always an avid drawer and loved art, however, his father urged him to pursue an
eduction in the more practical field of engineering. Rube became a mining engineer after
graduating from the University of California, Berkeley in 1904. Right away, Rube was hired by the
city of San Francisco as an engineer for the Water and Sewers Department. And that was the last
boring job that Rube Goldberg ever held. After six months of working for the Department, Rube
quit.!

In 1916, Rube Goldberg was married Irma Seeman. The couple resided at 88 Central Park West in
New York City and had two sons, Thomas and George. Even though the couple were legitimately
married, Rube later insisted that his two sons change their last name. Goldberg's work as a
political cartoonist and the controversial views that he expressed in those cartoons, led him to
believe that it was not safe for his sons to have the same last name as himself. The sons both
choice to change their last names to George, naming themselves Thomas George and George
George.!

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In 1970, Rube Goldberg died at the age of 87.!
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Professional Cartoonist!
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After quitting his job with the Water and Sewers Department. Rube starting working his dream job
as a sports cartoonist for the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper. Well not exactly, Rube started at
the San Francisco Chronicle as an office boy, but an office boy who repeatedly submitted his
cartoons to the editors until they finally published them.!
Later things got even better when Rube Goldberg became a political cartoonist. Over the course of
his lifetime, Rube Goldberg worked for five different newspapers: San Francisco Chronicle, San
Francisco Bulletin, New York Journal, American New York Evening Journal, and the New York
Evening Mail.!

By 1915, Rube had received national syndication of his cartoon series. He wrote several of his
cartoons simultaneously: Mike and Ike (They Look Alike), Boob McNutt, Foolish Questions, Lala
Palooza and The Weekly Meeting of the Tuesday Women's Club.!

In 1948, Rube Goldberg won a Pulitzer Prize for his cartoon about the world being on the edge of
nuclear devastation by satirically depicting an atomic bomb as a peace keeping device.!

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Rube Goldberg Machines!
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In 1931, the Merriam-Webster added the word "Rube Goldberg" to their dictionary. Rube Goldberg
was an adjective defined as accomplishing something simple through complex means. This new
dictionary entry is probably the most telling reflection upon the inventions of Rube Goldberg.!
In 1914, a Rube Goldberg Machine was first incorporated into Rube's cartoon strip. The Automatic
Weight Reducing Machine was made up of a donut, bomb, wax, balloons and a hot stove. One
overweight man was trapped in the machine who apparently had to lose weight to escape.!

The official Rube Goldberg website defines a Rube Goldberg contraption as an elaborate set of
arms, wheels, gears, handles, cups and rods, put in motion (usually a chain reaction) by balls,
canary cages, pails, boots, bathtubs, paddles and live animals and takes a simple task and makes
it extraordinarily complicated. For example, how do - How To Get The Cotton Out Of An Aspirin
Bottle, Self-Operating Napkin, and a Simple Alarm Clock - all sound? Sound simple? Do visit the
official Rube Goldberg gallery and view the invention strips. Nothing Rube Goldberg invented was
simple.!

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National Rube Goldberg Machine Contest!
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In early 1987, Purdue University in Indiana started the annual National Rube Goldberg Machine
Contest.!

Suggested Reading!
Honda's Rube Goldberg Machine Experience!
How to Build a Rube Goldberg Machine With Kids!
Rube Goldberg!
Rube Goldberg Official Website!
Official Rube Goldberg!
Rube Goldberg Machines!

Videos Depicting Rube Goldberg Machines!

OK Go - This Too Shall Pass - Rube Goldberg Machine version!
Rube Goldberg Sandwich Maker!
Largest Rube Goldberg Machine 2011: Purdue University!

Related Articles!
Rube Goldberg Gallery - Elaborate Inventions Cartoons