The Edison Disc Phonograph

            The Edison Disc Phonograph is a peculiar piece of furniture. When the doors on top and on the front are closed, it looks like an overly fancy tabletop. The wooden cabinet features a simple, yet elegant, pattern carved around the top and across the front. The slightly curved legs extend all the way to the top of the piece, framing the body, and lead your eye to the top which looks like a played-down pagoda. When you open the door on the front, two rows of black discs reveal themselves. When you open the top, you find the turn table and the needle waiting to be used.

            Even though the Edison Disc Phonograph is a visually pleasing piece of furniture, the real beauty comes from how it sounds. Thomas A. Edison Inc. (originally the National Phonograph Company) prided itself with making phonographs with the best sound quality. Edison’s goal was not just to record sounds, but to recreate them. The result is a crisp sound that fills an entire room with elegant symphonies and jolly tunes. 

The Evolution of the Edison Disc Phonograph

            Thomas Edison came up with the idea of the phonograph while he was working to improve the telegraph and telephone. He realized that the vibrations caused by his voice would be indented into tinfoil cylinders by a recording needle, which could then be played back through a wide tube. The first words Edison recorded on his device were “Mary had a little lamb.”

            So in 1878, Thomas Edison founded the Edison Speaking Phonograph Company with ideas like making audiobooks for blind people, clocks that announce the time, and of course for playing music. The company evolved into the National Phonograph Company and focused on the production of phonographs for music that use wax cylinders that recorded the sound. While the cylinders made for better sound quality than discs (which many competitors were using), it took much longer to mass produce them. In 1913, Edison’s company began producing phonographs that played discs. Thus, the Edison Disc Phonograph was created and here one stands in the Farm House Museum.

What is it about music…?

            What makes music so timeless? I’m sure there are hundreds or thousands of books on that subject but I think each of us has an idea about what makes music special for us. That feeling you get when you listen to a new song or a favorite that you’ve heard 1,000 times is something that people have been experiencing for a very long time. 

            For Americans in the early 19^th century, music was mostly passed down through word of mouth because sheet music and being taught how to read it were pretty expensive and time consuming. As sheet music became more available into the mid-19^th century, more songs were written down, making them more consistent whether you lived in New York, Chicago, or Florida. Music was not an individual experience either. It was meant to be experienced with other people, crowded around a piano (whether in a parlor or a tavern), enjoying the beautiful sound. Even as technology progresses, giving us the phonograph and the radio in the 20^th century, people experienced music in the company of others. The only, and most wonderful, thing that changed is how accessible it became to everyone.

            Today, music is an experience that is more accessible than ever. Think about how many times each day you listen to music and in what company: while walking between classes, doing homework, working out, just hanging out with friends. It surrounds us every day. Now, try to picture a group of people, like you and me, crowded around a piano, listening to the latest and greatest tune. Keep the imagination going and replace the piano with an ornate phonograph, like the one pictured, bellowing sound that fills the entire room. When you’re in the Farm House Museum, you’re surrounded by the history and it’s easy to imagine a room of people enjoying each others company. Now replace the phonograph with a radio, the size of your mini-fridge, broadcasting everything from classics to rock-n-roll to the nightly news. And it shouldn’t be too hard to switch out the radio with a Bluetooth speaker and a song queue to which everyone is contributing to. 

            Whatever it is that makes music have such an awesome effect on us, I don’t know. But it hasn’t stopped entertaining us and bringing us together to share in a wonderful experience. The next time you're listening to music, remember to stop into the Farm House Museum. We'll play the Edison Disc Phonograph for you and you can take a trip back in time through music.