"On This Day..."

[phonogfp]

“On This Day in the History of Recorded Sound…”

May 24, 1892: Leon F. Douglass was granted a U.S. patent (No.475,490) for “Method of and Means for Duplicating or Transferring Phonographic Records.” This involved simply attaching the reproducer of one phonograph to the recorder of another phonograph with a squeezed rubber tube, resulting in a slight vacuum.

May 24, 1906: Paul Berner filed for a U.S. Design Patent (eventually granted as No.38,275) for “Phonograph Horn.” This became the “Searchlight” horn, manufactured for cylinder and disc talking machines.

#antiquephonographsociety #phonograph #gramophone #antique

[MarkELynch]

George, thanks for posting this.

Notice in this 1899 Phonoscope advertisement that the duplicated records were offered at half the cost of the recording of the original performance.

Mark

[phonogfp]

Mark, I suspect the Greater New York Phonograph Company was using pantographs by 1899, but naturally the duplicate - by whatever method - would not have the same fidelity as an original.

George P.