Dictaphone, circa 1908
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 1908
Place of Creation
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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