Rowland Emett

A Very Short Biography:

Rowland Emett is known as both a cartoonist (examples) and a designer/creator of kinetic sculptures (examples).  The word 'whimsical' is frequently used to describe his work.  His most recognizable work (to most people) are the 'inventions' of Caractacus Potts (Dick Van Dyke) in the 1968 movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
 
Born in 1906 in London, England, Emett studied art and started employment in the commercial art field.  Seeing a friend paid handsomely by Punch magazine for what he thought was a poorly drawn cartoon, he submitted his own, quickly becoming one of the most popular cartoonists at Punch, and eventually cartoon editor.

Many of Emett's cartoons featured trains such as Nellie.  In 1951 the Festival of Britain (or here)(a kind of national fair) was to be created, and Emett was approached to build a real-life version of the Far Tottering & Oystercreek Railway.  Initially reluctant, he finally agreed and built a 15" gauge version of the Railway, complete with engines Nellie, Neptune and Wild Goose.  It became one of the main attractions at the Festival.  This led to his constructing many other machines over the following decades.

Emett purchased Wild Goose Cottage in Ditchling, Sussex with the $12,320 commission paid by Life magazine in the U.S. for a 12 page feature article (July 5, 1954) [1].  He lived in this cottage with his wife and business manager, Mary, until his death on November 13, 1990.  He is shown working in his studio behind the house in a British Pathe newsreel from 1963.

An excellent short biography is embodied in the article "The Comic Illustrations Of Rowland Emett" by Richard Dalby which has been made available here by Mr. Dalby and the publisher.

Emett Machines:

1951:

• Far Tottering & Oystercreek Railway, including the three trains and stations.  Ian Jopson has researched the F.T. & O. and has written the article "The Far Tottering And Oyster Creek Railway Of Rowland Emett".  (Ian continues to research the F.T. & O., and is very interested in any new information.)
• Emett also constructed the Shell ByPlane X-100 , also known as the "Astroterramare", commissioned by Shell, which was displayed at the Festival Gardens for 11 years.[3] .  
• There is an attribution of the Guinness Clock to Emett, but it appears he had no role in that.
• A stage set for the play “For a Penny a Song” at the Haymarket Theatre. [3]

1953:

• The ‘Hogmuddle Rotarory Niggler and Fidgeter’, designed to tackle every job on the farm. [3]  It was displayed at the Smithfield show at Earls Court, London and is shown here in stills from a British Pathe newsreel.
  

1956:

• Several machines on a household theme, including the ‘Hush-a-Bye-Bed’ for the Slumberland bed company (set "View Frame every 1 seconds" and look for images 56 through 70), for the 1956 Ideal Homes Exhibition in London. [3] Numerous still photos (including images of Emett) from a British Pathe newsreel are available.  
• This year marked the opening of Emett's own workshop in a 200 year old blacksmith's forge. [3]  Previous to this, his machines were built by others.  In his own shop, machines were built by Emett and part-time craftsmen.

1957:

• Emett made several 'contraptions' for the film "The Admirable Crichton" (released in America as "Paradise Lagoon") starring Kenneth More and Sally Anne Howes (who later appeared in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) [2].

1960:

• Emett's Tractor was built for the Norwich Agricultural Show, Norfolk and is shown here in stills from a British Pathe newsreel.

c1962:

• A large sculpture was produced for the British Post Office (name and current status unknown) and is shown here in stills from a British Pathe newsreel. In another newsreel, it is called "the famous GPO model."
  

1966:

• The Honeywell-Emett Forget-me-not Computer, Emett's first major machine of the 1960s [2]   Numerous still photos and here (including images of Emett) from a British Pathe newsreel are available.

1967:

• Eight (or nine) machines were constructed for the film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang [2].  These machines, along with 37 copies, went on worldwide promotional tours in 1969-1970.  Many are still on public display.  For example:
• The Ontario Science Center in Toronto, Canada claims to have "The world’s largest display of whimsical mechanical inventions by Rowland Emett," and puts on an exhibit around Christmas of each year.  Their collection, acquired in 1976, includes copies of:
• The Humbug Major Sweet Machine (aka The Toot Sweet Machine)
• Little Dragon Carpet Cleaner
• Hush-a-bye Hot Air Rocking Chair
• Clockwork Lullaby Machine
• Visi-vision Machine
• Three of the above machines are also found at the Mid-America Science Museum, Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas

Other machines in the movie likely by Emett were:

• the Breakfast Machine, 
• the Hair Cutting Machine, 
• the Rocket Backpack,
• and a Dish Washing Machine that appears in "The Ditchling Tinkerer" short feature [4], but is a static prop in the movie.

The movie was loosely based on the 1964 book by Ian Fleming in which Commander Caractacus Pott, who dabbled with inventions such as (...) sold the Crackpot Whistling Sweets idea (a spherical candy with two holes) to Lord Skrumshus, using the proceeds to buy and restore the car.  None of the machines in the movie were described in the book.  It is not known if the film's producers approached Emett with descriptions of the machines, or if he created the machine concepts himself, or a mixture of both.

1968:

• The Featherstone-Kite Openwork Basket Weave Mark Two Gentleman's Flying Machine was produced in at least two copies, the first for the British Oxygen Company, and the second in the early 1970s for the Hawker Siddeley company. [2]  Numerous still photos (including images of Emett) from a British Pathe newsreel are available.  
• One copy is owned by the Ontario Science Centre.  
• A second copy, along with at least four other Emett machines, is reputedly owned by the owner of the The Merrion Centre, a shopping mall in Leeds, United Kingdom.  There is a display case outside Morrison's Supermarket which hosts a rotating subset of the machines in this private collection.  (Featherstone is a mining village around 10 miles from Leeds, by the way.)

1972:

• The Borg-Warner Vintage Car of Future was commissioned by the Borg Warner company, who leased it for five years from Emett for $50,000 [1].  In 1978 it was transferred to Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry [2].(Thanks to Jeff Powell for this photo!) 

1973:

• The Rythmical Time Fountain at the Victoria Shopping Centre in Nottingham: (and small photo, details) and additional page:

"Always an attraction at the Victoria is Rowland Emett's Rythmical Time Fountain. This 23ft high
clock stands in a rock-strewn lake, whilst birds, frogs and squirrels play water onto a cobweb
water wheel, on which tumble silver bejewelled butterflies. On the hour, a bronze sunflower opens
to reveal an orchestra of six birds and squirrels who perform a ballet like dance to the strains of an
18th century harpsichord tune. There are many other fascinating aspects to this sculpture which is
surmounted by a four faced clock."

1976:

• The Fairway Birdie Mark 1 Fully Automatic Airborne Self-Golfing Machine was commissioned for a large Scottish golfing tournament [2].  Its current status is unknown.
• Moon-probe Lunacycle MAUD (Manually Activated Universal Deviator) is at the Ontario Science Centre.

1980:

• At the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC, "British sculptor Rowland Emett's The S.S. (Space Ship) Pussiewillow II, commissioned by the Museum, becomes part of the permanent collection" in 1980.  A small photo is on their site.  It appears the Smithsonian has this machine in permanent storage now.

1981:

• The C/C (Cat's Cradle) Pussiwillow III commissioned by Basildon New Town [3], and installed in the Eastgate Shopping Mall in Basildon, Essex [2].
  

1984:

• Spitalfields Market in London has a centrepiece that is the last mechanical sculpture designed by Emett.  Called 'A Quiet Afternoon in Cuckoo Valley', his Spitalfields fantasy comes to life every 15 minutes.  Also mentioned here.  This machine has an infamous past: it was stolen from a warehouse in Hertfordshire, England sometime between October 1998 and February 1999, prior to an exhibition at The Millenium Dome.  It was recovered in March 1999 after a scrap dealer called police.  The dealer paid £100 for the sculpture which had an estimated value of £250,000.

Unknown Dates:

• The Ontario Science Centre also periodically displays The Afternoon Tea Train to Wisteria Hall.

Images:

• By far the most and best images on the web are found at the EmettPlus site by Chris Brown.  Included are a number of shots of the "THE FAR TOTTERING & OYSTERCREEK RAILWAY" locomotives from the 1951 Festival of Britain, miscellaneous Emett materials and Emett machines at the Ontario Science Centre.  More images are here.
• Three images from an archive at the School of Design at Brighton, including the "Homebody" Engine Driver's Comfort Piece, cover of the Emett Festival Railway cut-out book, and an illustration from the book Anthony & Antimacassar by Emett and his wife Mary.
• "Little Dragon Carpet Sweep", the "Hush-A-Bye Hot Air Rocking Chair", and the "Visi-Vision" at the Mid-America Science Museum, Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas, and the "Featherstone-Kite."
• Another colour photo here of the Festival of Britain railway.
• 'Flying train', design for greeting card
• Machine Designed to Show the Working of the Economic System comic by Emett.
  
• A car park (i.e., parking garage) in Hemel England has a Tile Mosaic Map by Emett on its side.
• "Train Over The Bridge" painting by Emett, available for $8,500.
• A book illustration, "Errant knights approach castle," apparently did not sell in an auction in May 2002.
• A Meccano version "The Afternnon Tea Train to Wisteria Halt" and "Air Transport in 1870"
• A Meccano version of Nellie.
• Matt Groenig's (creator of The Simpsons cartoons) 97th most favorite thing are Emett cartoons.

Video:

• Emett's work is most widely known as the inventions from the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang movie.   In November 2003, MGM released a Special Ediition DVD set which included a short feature called "The Ditchling Tinkerer," showing Emett developing his machines for the movie.  Introductory credit: "Potts Inventions Created by  ...Rowland Emmet [sic]".  There is also a photo of Dick Van Dyke with the Toot-Sweet machine.
• Emett newsreel footage is available from British Pathe.  To download the newsreel footage, you must follow their registration proceedure, although preview stills can be accessed without registration.
• Newsreel and stock footage from several sources can be searched at www.footage.net/search/; search on Emett or Rowland Emmett.  Note, however, that these films are not available to the general public, and the cost of obtaining broadcasting rights is prohibitive, e.g., £15 per second for rights to put a clip on a webpage for one year.
• Omnibus. I, vol. 5 / the TV-Radio Workshop of the Ford Foundation; CBS Television Network, 1952-12-7. [library of congress]

Collectables:

• Wade of England Plates, issued circa 1958 (ref: "The World of Wade" page 151 or "The Wade Collectors Handbook" page 70, but need to verify these references). Plates are from a series called the "EMETTS" and are titled:
• Chivalry
• Dog and Dogstar
• Pastoral Interlude
• Town Carriage for a Ninth Earl
• Nymolle of Denmark plates are numbered
• 2134-410
• 2134-411
• 2134-412
• 2134-413
• 2134-414
• 2134-415

Chris Brown reports that particular Nymolle plates can have either black or green lines.

• A Jig-saw puzzle of the Emett Railway was created for the Festival of England in 1951. (Apparently there were four different puzzles.)
• There were two sets of Valentine's postcards: one photographic, showing the engines and their railway setting (the full set may be seven) and one colour cartoon set of five (three engines, a station and a quartered composite of these).
• At least two Emett Christmas cards were produced.
• There was rumoured to have been Emett train wallpaper at one time.
• The biggest possible prize would be a bulkhead from one of the British Airways Tristars, which featured items of transport by Emett (Circa 1971).
 

Exhibitions:

Bibliography:

Books by Rowland Emett:

• 1943 - Engines, Aunties & Others, Faber & Faber, London, 60pp. (Emett's first book of collected drawings from Punch.)
• 1946 - Sidings & Suchlike, explored by Emett, Faber & Faber, London, 60pp. (Emett's second book of collected drawings from Punch.)
• 1948 - Home Rails Preferred, Faber & Faber, London, 64pp.
• 1948 - Saturday Slow, Faber & Faber, London, 64pp. (Emett's fourth book of collected drawings from Punch.)
• 1949 - Far Twittering; or, The annals of a branch line, being some interesting and unusual aspects of the Far Twittering and Oysterperch Railway, Faber and Faber, London, 25 p.
• 1949 - Buffers End, arrived at by Emett, Faber & Faber, London, 44pp.
• 1950 - High Tea, infused by Emett, Faber & Faber, London. 44pp.
• 1951 - The Emett Festival Railway, (with Victor Keeling) Penguin Books: Harmondsworth, 30pp.  (The contents were designed to be cut out and made into a model of Nellie and her train.)
• 1952 - New World for Nellie," Harcourt, Brace, New York,   (Some illustrations from A New World for Nellie are on-line.)
• 1952 - Nellie Come Home, Faber & Faber: London.  ("New World for Nellie" and "Nellie Come Home" are almost the same book, with a few word and spelling modifications.  The paper and colour printing in the UK edition is markedly inferior, probably revealing the continuing effects of post-war austerity.)
• 1952 - The Forgotten Tramcar, Faber & Faber, London.
• 1953 - Emett's Domain: Trains, Trams, and Englishmen; the Best of Rowland Emett, Harcourt, Brace, New York, 159pp.  (Apparently there was also a UK edition of "Emett's Domain".)
• 1976 - The Early Morning Milk Train: The Cream of Emett Railway Drawings, John Murray, London, 108pp. (UK Edition)
• 1977 - The Early Morning Milk Train: The Cream of Emett Railway Drawings, S. Greene Press, Brattleboro, Vt., 112pp. (US Edition)
• 1977 - Alarms and Excursions: and other transports transfixed by Emett, John Murray, London, 96pp. ('Early Morning Milk Train and 'Alarms and Excursions' contain only illustrations from previous books.)
• 1981 - Emett's Ministry of Transport, Penguin Books, London, 1981 (Illustrations selected from ‘Early Morning Milk Train’ and ‘Alarms and Excursions’.)

The American "Emett's Domain..." has a few cartoons not found anywhere else, and with the added structure and trace of commentary may be the best one-volume introduction to Emett along with Chris Beetle's catalogue/book (listed below).
 

Books Illustrated by Rowland Emett:

Bergius, Adam. "Make your own Scotch whisky," original illustration by Rowland Emett, Glendaruel, Scotland : Argyll, 1995. 32 p.

De la Mare, Walter, "Bells & grass, a book of rhymes," with illustrations by F. Rowland Emett, London, Faber and Faber limited [1941] 154 p. (Note that various versions of these Walter De la Mare books have been published with different illustrators.)

De la Mare, Walter, "Peacock Pie. A book of rhymes," with illustrations by F. R. Emett, Faber & Faber: London, 1941, 128 p.

Emett, Mary, "Anthony & Antimacassar," with illustrations by F. Rowland Emett, Faber & Faber: London, [1943.]

GUINNESS. Arthur. SON AND CO., "Hobby Horses. With riders by Guinness," Illustrations by Rowland Emett, London, 1958. GUINNESS  DOCTORS' BOOKS were sent to UK doctors by the Guinness brewery each Christmas to promote the idea that "Guiness is good for you."  The 1958 booklet was illustrated by Emett.  This booklet contained a number of 'hobbies' illustrated by Emett.  It appears that the individual pages also were published in the Illustrated London News in 1960 as individual advertisements for Guinness.  The set included (at least):

• Cousin Montagu, The Prestidigitator
• Cousin Rodney, The Aeromodeller
• Uncle Lysander, The Orinthologist
• Uncle Edward, The Philatelist
• Cousin Inez, The Taxidermist
• Cousin Hugh The Fromologist
• Uncle Rupert The Horticulturalist
• Uncle George The Lepidopterist
• Nephew Leo The Astronomer.

"The Art of Lying"  a 35 page propaganda booklet from 1943 with a good dozen early little cartoons.

"A plain man's guide to software" (c1965), produced by/for Honeywell, with seven A4 ish drawings.

"The Children's Wonder Book in Colour" 1949 has a two page colour spread of "The Night Train to Penzance".

 

Magazines Illustrated by Rowland Emett:

Emett's career included considerable time at Punch.  In addition, Emett's illustrations can be found in the following magazine issues:
 

Life Magazine - U.S. Edition, July 5, 1954 and International Edition, July 26, 1954 - "Photo Essay: An Answer to Yorktown by Rowland Emett; Front Cover: Famous Cartoonist Takes Friendly Look at the U.S.A."

Life magazine, April 23, 1956, Cartoons by Emett, including Grace Kelly's Monaco Wedding.

SPORTS ILLUSTRATED MAGAZINE, MAY 21, 1956  self-golfing golf bag drawn by Rowland Emett;

"British cartoonist Rowland Emett designs a computer that really cares," Life magazine, 12/02/66

AUG. 2, 1943 LIFE MAG, "SPEAKING OF PICTURES, ROWLAND EMETT'S CARTOONS ARE FAVORITES OF THE ENGLISH"

The Aeroplane Magazine Jan 3 1947 Double page Emett cartoon for De Havilland

Books and Articles About Rowland Emett:

• Kitching, Alan and Lee, Martin, eds., "Rowland Emett. from ‘Punch' to ‘Chitty chitty bang bang' and beyond," Chris Beetles Ltd., London, 1988.  (Still available new for £10 plus postage from Chris Beetles Ltd., or, you can purchase a used copy from Alibris for US$72.95!)
• Hicks, James. "England's Most Fanciful Inventor Starts His Own Industrial Revolution"; Smithsonian, Vol. 4, No. 4. (July 1973): 34-42, cover. Washington, DC: The Smithsonian Institution, 1973.
• Book & Magazine Collector No 51 (June 1988) has an excellent short biography of Emett, by Richard Dalby, along with a bibliography of his written works, cover photos and market values.  This issue is still available for £3.50 each all in (£3.95/£4.50 Europe). Cheques payable to 'Diamond Publishing Ltd'. Write to: The Magazine Editor, Book & Magazine Collector, 45 St Mary's Road, London W5 5RQ.
• "The World of Rowland Emett," The Illustrated London News, June, 1984 (3 pages).
• "The Weird and Wonderful World of Rowland Emett," Popular Mechanics, February 1960.
• Weekend magazine, published in the UK in January 1969 had a two-page spread with six photos and some text on Emett, primarily regarding the movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
• Graphis magazine apparently had an article about Emett in Issue 42, 1952, and another mention in Issues 61, 1955 and 63, 1956.
• Horizon: "A Magazine of the Arts" did a piece on The Rhytmical Time-Fountain with drawings by Rowland Emett in Vol. 15, No. 2, Spring 1973.
• Classic & Sports Car magazine (UK) did a story called "A look at the cartoons of Rowland Emett," May 1998 issue.
  

Miscellaneous Links to Pages Mentioning Emett:

• http://www.database.com/~lemur/dm-kinetic-notes.html
• http://rylibweb.man.ac.uk/data1/dg/exhibition/birds/case3.html
• http://www.awnuts.com/Around_World.html
• http://www.packer34.freeserve.co.uk/cambridg.htm
• http://www.dithered.com/archives/200103.html, look for 03/14/2001 Wednesday
• http://www.askart.com/artist/E/rowland_emett.asp?ID=121975, the AskART Artist's Directory lists Emett as an American artist.  If you wish, you can volunteer to write a biography of Emett for them (AskART refuses to link to this page).  Of course, only those paying membership fees to AskART will be able to read your biography.
  

Assorted Trivia:

"Rowland Emett (1906-1990): British author/artist/engineer of "Gothic-Kinetic" sculptures which actually operated, as opposed to William Heath Robinson (UK) and Rube Goldberg (USA) who only drew such imaginative inventions; also various children's books" (according to "The Encyclopedia of Fantasy", John Clute & John Grant, St.Martin's, 1997, p.317)

"Cartoonist and designer of eccentric mechanical displays, born in London, England, UK. He studied at Birmingham College, and after his earliest joke drawings for Punch (1939), evolved a unique and fantastic style depicting a quaint, Victorian world. Many of his cartoons have been turned into working models." (Biography.com)

Emett lived in the village of Ditchling, working out of a former blacksmith forge.  His birthday was October 22nd.

Emett is mentioned in the Encyclopedia Britannica article on caricature and cartoons (that is, before they went to pay-per-view): "But the latter-day  predicament may be highly complicated; in the hands of such a cartoonist as [...] Emett, whose fantastic locomotives and wispy codgers were half infernal and half heavenly, the comedy came from an accumulation of frustrating but ludicrous detail."

(When searching, note that his name has been alternatively spelled by various people as Roland Emett, Rowland Emmett, Roland Emmet, etc.)

A student design contest of an Emett-like clock in the UK.

Comments?

Acknowledgements:

Many thanks to Chris Brown for his significant input to the above list of Emettia and to Jeff Powell for providing the photo of the Borg-Warner Vintage Car of the Future.  Ian Jopson has provided his article on the Festival of Britain railway, and Crispin Jackson and Richard Dalby have provided permission to reproduce Richard's article on Emett's works.  Thanks too to Vernon Levy who discovered the collection of Emett machines at The Merrion Centre, Leeds.

References

1. Hicks, James. "England's Most Fanciful Inventor Starts His Own Industrial Revolution"; Smithsonian, Vol. 4, No. 4. (July 1973) pp. 34-42.
2. Jacqui Grossart in "Rowland Emett. from ‘Punch' to ‘Chitty chitty bang bang' and beyond," Chris Beetles Ltd., London, 1988.
3. Richard Dalby, "The Comic Illustrations Of Rowland Emett," in Book & Magazine Collector No 51 (June 1988).
4. MGM Special Ediition DVD set includes a short feature called "The Ditchling Tinkerer," showing Emett developing his machines for the movie.
   

Last updated: May 3, 2004