Dictaphone, circa 1908

Summary

Dictaphones and Ediphones were sound recording devices used for efficient oral dictation in business settings. When Edison invented the phonograph, one proposed use was "dictation without the aid of stenographers." Its tinfoil playback medium lacked quality, however. Alexander Graham Bell's Graphophone (later, Dictaphone) improved the phonograph by using wax cylinders for superior playback; cylinders were also used in the competing Ediphone.

Dictaphones and Ediphones were sound recording devices used for efficient oral dictation in business settings. When Edison invented the phonograph, one proposed use was "dictation without the aid of stenographers." Its tinfoil playback medium lacked quality, however. Alexander Graham Bell's Graphophone (later, Dictaphone) improved the phonograph by using wax cylinders for superior playback; cylinders were also used in the competing Ediphone.

Artifact

Dictating machine

Date Made

circa 1908

Creators

American Graphophone Company 

Dictaphone Company of America 

Place of Creation

United States, New York, New York 

Creator Notes

Manufactured by American Graphophone Company and distributed by Dictaphone Company of America

Location

Not on exhibit to the public.

Object ID

00.4.2111

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford.

Material

Wood (Plant Material)
Cast Iron
Nickel (Metal)
Leather
Textile

Dimensions

Height: 15 in

Width: 11.25 in

Length: 17 in

Inscriptions

plaque, front: Dictaphone Manufactured by American Graphophone Company Dictaphone Company of America New York label, front: Dictaphone Reg. U.S. Patent Office Manufactured by American Graphophone Co. New York label, rear: Patented June 10, 1890 . . . Dec. 31 1907

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