The Clark Collection of Mechanical Movements

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File:2024 Combo photo of parts of Clark Collection of mechanical movement at Museum of Science, Boston.jpg
Exhibits 1-16 and 129-144 of Clark Collection of mechanical movements at Museum of Science, Boston

The Clark Collection of Mechanical Movements is a museum exhibit at the Museum of Science (Boston).[1] Built in the 1920s,[2] it currently shows 120 panels of mechanisms, including gears and models of machines.[3] The exhibit is constructed in cabinets of 16 square panels, each measuring 15¼ by 15¼ inches, containing one or more movements.[4]

History

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W.M. Clark, of South Orange, New Jersey, in a book accompanying the exhibit described himself as a

"hobbyist ... [who] ... through the help of the book '507 Mechanical Movements', acquired the foundation for a mechanical education, without schooling in the regular way."[5][page needed]

The exhibit, originally titled Mechanical Wonderland, was made over "20 years" by Mr. Clark in the early 1900s and displayed in "the Boys' Department of a New York department store".[5]

File:Table of Mechanical Movements.jpg
Detail of The American Artisan ser.2-v.1 1865 pg24 : A weekly journal of arts, mechanics, manufactures, engineering, chemistry, inventions, and patents

It was inspired by the book Five Hundred and Seven Mechanical Movements by Henry T. Brown, published in 1869.[6]

  • The exhibit was transferred to the Museum of Science, Boston before 1954.[11]

Newark Museum copy of collection

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File:Newark Museum Exhibit of Mechanical Models, 1933.jpg
Newark Museum Exhibit of Mechanical Models, 1933
  • In 1930, after John Cotton Dana, the founder of the Newark Museum, expressed interest, a second copy of the exhibit was constructed by W.M. Clark and donated to the Newark Museum by Louis Bamberger. The book Mechanical Models was published by the Newark Museum.[12]
File:Advertisement for Mechanical Wonderland exhibit in Popular Science Aug 1933 pg 79.jpg
Advertisement for Mechanical Wonderland exhibit at the 1934 Chicago World's Fair, in Popular Science Aug 1933 pg 79.
  • In 1933, W.M. Clark published A Manual of Mechanical Movements, to accompany the Chicago World's Fair.[5]
  • In 1943, W.M. Clark published a new edition of A Manual of Mechanical Movements.[13][14]
  • In 1954, The Newark Museum published a review of the exhibit by Kenneth L Gosner.[11]

References

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