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Talking Machines
Two New Jersey companies built devices that brought music into American homes
At the end of his life, the New Jersey inventor responsible for pioneering sound technology could no longer hear his own inventions. Nearly deaf, Thomas Edison would sometimes bite on phonograph cases so that the sound vibrations would travel though his teeth and into his inner ear, thus allowing him to continue his life's work. Edison's original 1877 phonograph – the world's first – played sounds recorded on a cylinder. In later years, Edison went on to experiment with phonographs that instead used circular disks. A rival company, the Victor Talking Machine Company based in Camden, also used disk technology in their popular "Victrola" line. However, Edison and Victor disks were not designed to be compatible – a decision that precipitated one of many American market wars over proprietary hardware.
Early phonographs combined a new, cutting-edge technology with simple functions. The hand-cranked, spring-operated motors required no electricity. Further, the large-sized cabinets allowed the sound-delivering horns to be encased below the turntable.To control the volume, one simply opened or closed the doors. |