Tonight is night three of the Congress for Curious People! To celebrate, come to the Coney Island Museum at 7:00 PM to see Mike Zohn--of the inimitable Obscura Antiques and Oddities-- as he demonstrates and explains the workings of his 19th Century bird-taxidermy automaton, which aficionados might remember from last Carnivorous Nights Taxidermy Contest; (see bottom image to jog your memory).

To accompany the demonstration, Mike will give an illustrated lecture about the fascinating, surprising, and sometimes nefarious history of automata. And--added bonus--there will also be half-price drinks at the bar till 7! Full details follow; hope to see you there!

A Brief History of Automata
An Illustrated Lecture and Demonstration by Mike Zohn, Obscura Antiques and Oddities
Date: Wednesday, April 14th (Tonight!)
Time: 7:00 PM
LOCATION: The Coney Island Museum
In this illustrated lecture, Obscura Antique and Oddities‘ Mike Zohn will demonstrate his 19th Century taxidermy automata, as featured in last year’s Carnivorous Nights Taxidermy Contest. He will explain its curious mechanisms, and, in an illustrated lecture, will introduce us to the history of these fascinating uncanny machines, tracing their trajectory from tools of religious coercion to prince’s plaything to Disney’s imagineering experiments.

Mike Zohn is co-proprietor of Obscura Antique and Oddities. He fixes automata in his spare time.

For information about the Coney Island Museum--including address and directions--click here. For more about the Congress for Curious People--under whose auspices this event is included--click here. To find out more about the larger Congress of Curious Peoples click here. Click here to download a hi-res copy of the broadside invitation.

Bottom image: Mike Zohn with his Bird Automaton at the Carnivorous Nights Taxidermy Contest; from the Flickr page of tenebrouskate; click here to see more.