What IS a Rube Goldberg Machine??
Humor, art, invention and maybe some more humor for good measure.
Back in 2015 or so, I started work on the first of what is now 6 books centered around Rube Goldberg and Rube Goldberg machines. The story of how I got the gig in the first place is definitely worthy of it’s own post, but not this one!
In talking to people, groups, whatever about this whole thing, I’m regularly reminded of a few things:
Almost everyone knows what you mean when you mention Rube Goldberg Machine to some extent or another. Surprisingly less realize that Rube was actually a real person, much less one of the most prominent and successful cartoonists of the 20th century.
Though the machine cartoons were arguably the most famous, they were actually only small part of his extensive and ongoing repertoire. (More on that in an upcoming post)
Rube never actually built any of his machines!
Fun fact- Rube’s machine gags were a result of the still-evolving Industrial Age. With new inventions taking the world by storm in the early 20th century, patent drawings were quickly becoming something people were more and more cognizant of- the telephone, steam engines, the automobile, etc. The cartoons were parodies of patent drawings, drawn in a similar A to B to C fashion, and were simply a timely play on something the public could relate to.
Also, though one might think that machines were the most important part of any of these cartoons, the mechanics, composition, etc, took a backseat to the most important element: Humor.
In the world of Rube Goldberg Machines, they were always presented as the inventions of Lucifer Gorgonzola Butts, A.K., and it doesn’t take long to figure out that not only were these inventions NOT filling a need or saving time, but the ridiculousness of how the machines worked, the cogs involved, were where the humor lied.
What goes into building a Rube Goldberg Machine??
By the time I’d finished the 2nd Rube picture book, I got to a point where I could somewhat efficiently come up with these machines. Though I’m not the author of these books- that’d be Jennifer George, Rube Goldberg’s granddaughter- I do compose and ‘build’ the actual machines.
The process is pretty straightforward, but takes a lot of hours and absolutely all of my already limited brain power.
First off, figure out what task the machine is supposed to accomplish.
In the case of the picture books, Jennifer and I painstakingly flesh out the progression of our new little Rube Goldberg character’s day through 15 or so machines that comprise his ‘normal’ day. How he wakes up in the morning, how makes his breakfast, how he does his homework, etc etc. Each machine takes up 2 pages, with room for a block of text, to come later.
Once the list of machines are agreed upon, the work begins for me.
What are these machines going to look like? That’s the fun part.
I start off filling brainstorming sketchbook page after sketchbook page with ideas, thoughts, doodles, anything and everything, to come up with different steps to different machines.
I’ve got multiple sketchbooks filled with stuff like this:
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Taking everyday objects and finding new and unexpected uses for them is the ultimate goal. Using a leaf blower to turn a weather vane, which in turn is connected to a pulley system that raises a hubcap of cheese nuggets in front of a hungry raccoon who’s forward lurch triggers the remainder of the machine… the goofier the better, and all the steps fall into one of the six categories of Simple Machines:
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No matter what composes the machine, things still have to follow the laws of physics.
If something zigs left when it should go right or whatever, someone will point it out to me when the book comes out, and it’s usually someone who’s a mere fraction of my age!
If I get stuck in the configuration or are unsure of some aspect of the mechanics of whatever, I’ll crack open the Simple Machines toy & build a version of what I’m working on. This is great for seeing if something would work the way I’m envisioning it, and/or double checking my work.(Discovered this trick way late in the game!)
If a pulley is being used, one rotation of Wheel A may equal X turns of Wheel B depending on the size of each, causing whatever attached to the Wheel B to go faster/slower than Wheel A for example. My brain doesn’t compute the actual mechanics as well as I’d like, so sometimes building a little model is just the key.
Each final machine has somewhere between 15 or 20 steps, and the more outlandish and goofy the steps are, the better. That said, I do on occasion resort to some old standbys- an old-timey gear turning another gear, something boring like that, and that’s the way it goes. Trying to come up with new machine parts ain’t easy, and I really try to not reuse the weirder devices!
Fun fact: upon starting the machine creation process for the 2nd picture book, I sat & came up with a list of items I wanted to somehow incorporate. Traffic cones, hamster wheels, that sort of thing. One thing I really thought was fun was an old timey record player with the big horn. That book came and went, and I couldn’t find a way to shoe horn in the funny looking record player! It wasn’t until a year or so later when I got to the end of the first Middle Reader book that I finally got to use the ol’ Victrola.
Here it is, to the left of the scary guy’s head. It’s the start of the machine that sets off a chain reaction of events that ends with the big reveal! (no spoilers!)
Once I have the machines figured out and it all makes sense, I get to composing the whole thing into a cohesive space that’s easy to follow and (hopefully) understandable, transfer it all to fancy illustration paper and get to finishing the image with a bottle of ink and super fancy watercolors.
While I’m doing that, Jennifer gets to coming up with the funny text that explains the device, and we meet at the end to see the final product in all its glory!
Here’s two completed 2 page spreads:
If you know any Rube Goldberg Machine fans, or anyone STEM/STEAM inclined, these books are available everywhere!
Interested in signed & personalized copies directly from me, click here!
To all m’subscribers- thanks so much for your patience while I relocated & settled- that always takes longer than anticipated! But, the studio is up and running at full capacity, so at least there’s that!
Last newsletter I mentioned sharing a fun caricature job I’m on- I’m editing that video now, and early next week I’ll be posting process sketches and pontifications, as well as a full process video behind the paywall. If you haven’t yet, please consider upping your subscription! It will change your life!
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Lastly, coming this fall….