Edison tinfoil phonograph

This machine marked a revolution in the development of modern sound recording. While previous efforts had managed to capture sound waves, the innovation of Thomas Edison’s device was in its ability to both record and play back sound. A thin strip of tinfoil was attached to the machine’s central cylinder, which was then turned by hand in a slow and steady manner. While the cylinder was in rotation, an operator spoke loudly into a mouthpiece causing the sound waves to vibrate through a thin metal membrane and moving a steel stylus to record these waves on the surface of the tinfoil. The mouthpiece was removed and the crank handle was turned again to play back the recorded sound. Edison first demonstrated the use of this machine at his laboratory in December 1877. Believing in the commercial potential of this development, the inventor arranged for a prototype to be produced and shipped to Europe. 500 show models were made in Paris by machinist and electrical engineer Edmé Hardy in advance of the Universal Exposition that year. The models sold for a price of 200 francs, and this object was part of this series or perhaps a prototype for it. Despite its clear potential, however, this device could only record an estimated 60 words per metallic strip and was therefore never commercially viable. It served mostly to demonstrate the technical potential of sound recording. As such, it marks a key milestone in the development of one of the great mass media of the modern age.