Thomas Edison Perfecting His Wax Cylinder Phonograph, 1888

01

Artifact Overview

Throughout his life, Thomas Edison continued to develop the phonograph he had invented in 1877. On June 11, 1888, Edison launched a round-the-clock session with his assistants to perfect the phonograph. When he emerged from his West Orange, New Jersey, laboratory days later, the exhausted, slumping inventor posed for this photograph with his improved machine.

Artifact Details

Artifact

Photographic postcard

Date Made

circa 1920

Subject Date

10 June 1888

Creator Notes

Postcard made circa 1920 from the 1888 photograph by W.K.-L. Dickson..

Location

By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center

Object ID

84.1.1630.7

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford.

Material

Paper (Fiber product)

Technique

Gelatin silver process

Color

Black-and-white (Colors)

Dimensions

Height: 3 in
Width: 4 in

Inscriptions

Postcard markings on back.
Thomas Edison Perfecting His Wax Cylinder Phonograph, 1888