Is this a robot librarian from the 1950s?

At first glance, the photo on the left may look like another example of old fashioned automation—yesterday's great promise for the libraries of the future. But it's actually a Photoshop job, most likely concocted in the 21st century.

The photo actually shows a "robot" vending machine that dispensed cigarettes at the Berlin Zoo in 1955.

Somehow, the truth behind this photo is even stranger than the fictionalized version. According to its caption at Getty Images: "The machine thanks customers on payment for the cigarettes, and at the same time gives road safety advice. Road accident scenes are projected in the robot's eyes."