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History of the Phonograph
The Sounds of an Era
Before the phonograph was invented, serveral other attempts had been made to record and reporoduce sound. Around 1856 & 57' the first recording device on record was created. The Phonoautograph was created by Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville (25 April 1817 – 26 April 1879) a French Inventor who is credited for this primative version of recording devices. The model took after the mechanics of the inner ear and was created to mimic its anatomy.
The Real Deal
Later in 1877, Thomas Edison in his continued work in telecommunications created the phonograph which recieved its patent no. 200,521 in 1878. With the telephony and telegraphy, the phonograph was a progression through Edison's works with sound. Originally because of his work in telecommunications, the phonograph was intended by Edison to be what would become the precurser of the answering machine.
Several more prototypes were created at the request of Edison, but for almost a decade after the machines were ignored.
The Early Years
The device worked by shouting a short message into the reciever while turning a crank. The vibrations of the sound waves would cause the needle to vibrate and shake causing imprints to be made in the foil (1878 model), which when played back would allow those same grooves to vibrate a needle in a similar fashion. Thus creating the first recording and playback system. Unlike the records someone might think of today, these devices used cylinders that would rotate on a spindle turned by a crank, and the imprints would be made in a thin layer of foil.
Evolution of the Idea
After several years of ignoring the project, other inventors discovered the ideas of the phonograph and decided to work out their own ideas and contributions to the project. While the foil indentations proved effective for recording, Charles Sumner Tainter of the Alexander Graham Bell Company discovered that a less rigid needle and wax proved to be a more effective combination. The machine was dubbed the Graphophone.
Edison returned to the phonograph by his competative nature, wanting to improve upon his previous design to make his machine superior. However, a business man by the name of Jesse H. Lippincott attempted to create a monopoly on the phonographic markets, buying up all of the companies. He began to rent out the phonographs instead of selling them, which was met with opposition. After he took ill in 1890, Edison gained control of the company. Since Edison didn't own the company, he made a move to file for the Bankruptcy of the company, buying it back after everything had been finalized. Once in control of the company, he ended the rental policy and began to sell phonographs once again.
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