Phonograph

Object NamePhonograph

Manufacturer Thomas A. Edison Inc. (American, 1894 - 1918)

Date1910

DimensionsHT: 31" wdt: 45" diam: 22" diam:of horn Depth: 22" measurements incl.horn

ClassificationsMusical Instruments

Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. Mavnard Ukena. In the Farm House Museum Collection, Farm House Museum, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

Object number84.23.1

Status

On view

Collections

Household objects, Musical instruments and Tools

CultureAmerican

Label TextThomas Edison's invention of the phonograph provided one means of entertainment for Victorian Era Americans. First created in 1877 as a way of recording dictations, the phonograph was eventually developed to record and reproduce music, making it a popular but expensive novelty item. As market competition increased and prices declined, middle-class households began purchasing the once-expensive machine. The floor model seen in the Farm House Museum was created in 1910 and demonstrates an important innovation to the phonograph: the use of flat shellac discs to record and reproduce music. Edison's original invention used costly wax cylinders, which could only record two minutes of music and could not be mass produced. The discs provided twice as much music and were much cheaper and easier to produce. Despite Edison's best efforts to promote the original cylinders, flat discs dominated the market by the 1920s. The Farm House Museum includes a large collection of these discs, which can be played on the Edison phonograph. Each side of the discs contains a single song from the popular musical genres of the time, including jazz, opera, and foxtrot.

MarkingsSerial number 344954, model D

Locations