VINTAGE SOUND PLAYER
Edison Standard Phonograph 1904

Simply stunning! Edison called this type of finish "green oak" -- it was very popular at the turn of the 20th century. To our modern eyes, although it does have a greenish tinge, it looks golden and warm. It's hard to believe this instrument is over 100 years old!
including 14" replica horn and one Edison 2-minute cylinder record.

A brief history about Edison Cylinders Phonographs

The phonograph was developed as a result of Edison'swork on two other inventions, the telegraph and the telephone. In 1877, Edison was working on a machine that would transcribe telegraphic messages that could be sent over the telegraph. This led Edison to speculate that a telephone message could be recorded in a similar fashion. He experimented with a diaphragm that held a needle against rapidly moving paraffin paper. The speech vibrations created indentations in the paper. Edison later replaced the paper with a metal cylinder wrapped in tin foil. The machine had two diaphragm-needle units, one for recording and one for playback. When the user would speak into a mouthpiece, the sound vibrations created indentations in the cylinder via the recording needle in a vertical or hill and dale groove pattern. When Edison gave a sketch of the machine to his mechanic, John Kreusi, to build, Kreusi reportedly did so in about 30 hours. Edison tested the machine by speaking into the mouthpiece, "Mary had a little lamb." To his amazemenA?t, the machine played his words back to him.
By 1878 Edison was marketing his machine. He even made a profit for the first few years. At first the technology was crude; the recordings were made on tinfoil and the machine was delicate. As a novelty, the machine was an instant success, but was difficult to operate except by experts, and the tin foil would last for only a few playings.

Edison described the following possible uses for the phonograph in North American Review in June 1878:
1. Letter writing and all kinds of dictation without the aid of a stenographer.
2. Phonographic books, which will speak to blind people without effort on their part.
3. The teaching of elocution.
4. Reproduction of music.
5. The "Family Record"--a registry of sayings, reminiscences, etc., by members of a family in their own voices, and of the last words of dying persons.
6. Music boxes and toys.
7. Clocks that should announce in articulate speech the time for going home, going to meals, etc.
8. The preservation of languages by exact reproduction of the manner of pronouncing.
9. Educational purposes, such as preserving the explanations made by a teacher, so that the pupil can refer to them at any moment, and spelling or other lessons placed upon the phonograph for convenience in committing to memory.
10. Connection with the telephone, so as to make that instrument an auxiliary in the transmission of permanent and invaluable records, instead of being the recipient of momentary and fleeting communication.

Even with all these possibilities, the novelty of the invention soon wore off for the general public. People just weren't sure what to do with the new machine. At first, it was used primarily for public demonstrations (with paid admission). Edison thought it could lead to a paperless office in which dictated letters could be recorded and the cylinders mailed to the recipients. He also tried putting a small phonograph into a doll and selling it as a talking toy! Owners of the early machines held parties where guests could record songs and listen to them being played back, a precursor to the karaoke machine!

The practical phonograph did not arrive until the late 1880s, by which time Edison had serious competitors. Edison's phonograph had several features that were superior to his competitors. But, as we all know, having the best technology does not ensure success. Sony's Beta technology for videocassette recording is widely considered to have been superior to the VHS format for videocassette recorders and tape, but Beta lost. The Macintosh operating system had advantages over DOS, but it lost, first to DOS, and then to Microsoft Windows, a system that took ten years to catch up to the Macintosh, but that now dominates the market.

The Edison Standard Phonograph was manufactured, and then exhibited in the press in 1898. and a model known as tA?he Gem was introduced in 1899.

A process for mass-producing cylinders was put into effect in 1901. The cylinders were molded, rather than engraved by a stylus, and a harder wax was used. By mid-1904, the savings in mass duplication was reflected in the price for cylinders, which had been lowered to 35 cents each. Beveled ends were made on the cylinders to accommodate titles.

Edison decided that big-name, expensive artists were not different from lesser-known professionals. In this, he is probably technically correct. Edison thought he could save money with no sacrifice to quality by recording lesser-known artists. He was right-he saved a lot of money. The problem was, the public wanted to hear the big names, not the unknowns.
As a Victor advertisement put it:
If you had your choice of attending two concerts-the greatest artists in all the world appearing at one, some little-known artists at the other-which would you choose? You would quickly decide to hear the renowned artists who are famous for their superb interpretations. And this is exactly the reason why the Victrola is the instrument for your home. The world's greatest artists make records for the Victor exclusively.

Ah, if Edison had known those influence principles he would have realized that we are impressed by big names and famous people. A costly error!

Rather than using the phonograph for dictation, many musicians and musical groups started using it to record their music so they could go back and listen to the errors they made in their practices. From this arose one of the biggest industries of the 20th century. Talented musicians started recording their music on wax cylinders for sale. Thus, was born the music industry and the mass marketing of the machinery needed to play the newly recorded music.

The Edison Standard Phonograph was released for sale to the general public in 1904 for $100.00. ConsideriA?ng that most men only made $40.00 to $60.00 per month, the price was exorbitant. However, for those who did not live in metropolitan areas, the cost of the phonograph was minimal overall. The amount of money needed to pay for concert tickets, appropriate clothing, food, lodging, travel expenses (not to mention, for the farmer, the cost of a hired hand to care for the farm)-all of this effort for maybe one outing to the city per year-hardly justified the effort. Thus, the phonograph began to make people more equal by bringing music into the homes of rich and poor, educated and uneducated, "cultured" and "uncultured" alike. Those who could not go to hear and see performances of the music of such composers as Debussy, Puccini, Beethoven, and even Mozart, could now enjoy these composers' compositions in their own living rooms, parlors, and dens.