Allen County Museum
Allen County Museum from A to Z
G is for...
Graphophone: Although experimentation with recording devices began as early as 1857, Thomas Edison began to perfect the necessary techniques in the 1870s. The first records were made on strips of tinfoil wrapped around a four-inch diameter drum. The drum was turned with a hand-crank. But the foil was not very durable and this led to the adoption of wax cylinders.
During the last decade of the 19th century, the Columbia Graphophone Company emerged with a mission to create an inexpensive spring wound phonograph that would entertain Victorian middle class Americans with music and amusement. It quickly grew in popularity. But this was a competitive time for new innovations in the market place and by 1897, the Edison Company produced a rival phonograph that retailed for $10.00. How wold this price compare to a CD player today?
