Edison Business Phonograph, circa 1912
01
Artifact Overview
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 Details
Artifact
Dictating machine
Date Made
circa 1912
Creators
Place of Creation
Location
Not on exhibit to the public.
Object ID
29.2003.16
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Thomas A. Edison, Inc.
Material
Steel (Alloy)
Nickel (Metal)
Metal
Cloth
Rubber (Material)
Wax
Cardboard
Color
Black (Color)
Gold (Color)
Dimensions
Height: 36 in
Width: 12.5 in
Length: 14 in
Inscriptions
on plate on cabinet top behind machine:
EDISON BUSINESS PHONOGRAPH / TYPE [?] MODEL D / MANUFACTURED UNDER THE PATENTS OF / THOMAS A. EDISON, et als, at Orange, N.J., U.S.A. / NOV. 17, 1903 [...] / THIS MACHINE IS SOLD UPON THE CONDITIONS THAT IT IS LICENSED TO BE USED OR VENDED ONLY SO LONG AS THIS / SERIAL NUMBER 22412 IS NOT REMOVED / OR CHANGED [...]
on cabinet top in front of machine:
TRADE / Thomas A. Edison / MARK
on front of cabinet:
Edison
on plate on back of machine:
DIRECT CURRENT 220 VOLTS / 60 CYCLES ALT. CURRENT 220 VOLTS / DIRECT CURRENT 110 VOLTS / 110 VOLTS ALT. CURRENT / NOTE WHEN POINTER IS SET FOR CORRECT ELECTRICAL CURRENT, TO WEAKEN MOTOR MOVE SLIGHTLY TOWARDS LEFT TO STRENGTHEN MOVE TOWARD RIGHT / [...]
on cylinder tube:
Thomas A. Edison / VOICEWRITER / Master Wax / MADE IN U.S.A.
on end of cylinder:
EDIPHONE SAFETY / EDISON MASTER WAX
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