Previous Page: This discovery took place in 1877, and led Thomas Edison to devote most of his energy into the development of the phonograph. Thomas Edison was aged 30 when he patent the phonograph which he described then as the "talking machine" a sound recording apparatus that was devised by Thomas Edison in 1878 by using tinfoil wrapped around a cylinder with two needles, one for recording sounds and the other for play back. Thomas Edison was a team man and indeed an integrated thinker as he concentrated on several inventions all at once, and right up until his death, Thomas Edison was still working on his inventions. Between 1878 through to 1880, the tinfoil cylindral phonograph was marketed to the public at prices ranging from $10.00 up to $200.00, then in 1888 to1889 Thomas Edison went on to concentrate on the wax cylinder machines which was not for sale to the public, but strictly for rental only. The first words recorded on the tinfoil cylinder discs were "Mary Had A Little Lamb" which can be heard if you visit the tinfoil web site. http://www.tinfoil.com On this site you can feast your eyes on the enormous amount of vintage photographs dating back to the early Thomas Edison's tinfoil cylinder phonographs and the 2-minute wax cylinder records. |
