"Emile Berliner-An Unheralded Genius"

[Neophone]

Folks,

While poking around looking for worthwhile links I found this. I haven't had a chance to read the whole thing myself yet, but it looks very interesting.

~Emile Berliner - An Unheralded Genius Part I - The Early Years Fact Paper 27-I~

~Emile Berliner- An Unheralded Genius Part II - The Later Years Fact Paper 27-II~

both © Samuel Kurinsky, all rights reserved

From The Hebrew History Federation

~Emile Berliner~

From The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Make sure to check out the links at the bottom of the page.

Regards,
John

[PhonoJack]

I believe if Emile Berliner read this rubbish written by Samuel Kurinsky of the HHF he would have been embarassed by this, particularly in the way Kurinsky uses Berliner's good name to present his case. Emile Berliner would have been very critical of this author's misuse of information, especially as Berliner himself left much valuable research data and documents available for objective, honest research today. Kurinsky of the Hebrew History Federation departs from one of the basic goals of the HHF: "To research and publish literature about Judaic technological and artistic contributions to the evolution of civilization. To correct misinformation about Judaic contributions where it appears".

Unfortunately, he leads the reader to believe information about Berliner is conspicuously left absent from American history school books, perhaps because Berliner was Jewish. Kurinsky cleverly ties together tidbits of data to present his case that Berliner was a greater victim than the accomplished, generous, successful businessman and family man. Berliner never felt he was a victim to Edison, Bell, Frank Seaman, Eldridge Johnson, the US Court System, the American System or businessmen or the German Fatherland and the countless others that Kurinsky claims stole from Berliner.

As many on this board have done their homework and have done some objective research about the phonograph and gramophones, no doubt many of Kurinsky's half truths will become obvious as you read his work.

What a shame that this kind of work produced by the HHF will be read by so many. Rubbish!

Jack

One of Berliner's biggest fans!

[Neophone]

Jack,

Could you point out a few of the errors?

Unfortunately, he leads the reader to believe information about Berliner is conspicuously left absent from American history school books, perhaps because Berliner was Jewish.

I must say I did not get that impression from the articles although I read them both very quickly. I do believe Berliner has been given short shrift in our history books. I'd never heard anything of him, but his name before I started collecting talking machines.

I look forward to any information you can add to our knowledge of Berliner or any of the other luminaries of recorded sound.

Thank you

Regards,
John

[Starkton]

Flipping through Kurinsky's effort, especially the sections about the gramophone, I detect innumerable greenhorn mistakes. In short, a pretty lousy affair and not worth mentioning.

[Neophone]

Folks,

Well that's two votes against. I deleted this link from our collected links. My knowledge of the business side is not substantial and in my cursory reading nothing jumped out at me. I would be interested is specific examples of errors.

Regards,
John

[Starkton]

Folks,

Well that's two votes against. I deleted this link from our collected links. My knowledge of the business side is not substantial and in my cursory reading nothing jumped out at me. I would be interested is specific examples of errors.

Regards,
John

As an example:

"After Lippincott was struck with paralysis, Edison bought the virtually moribund "Columbia Phonograph Company" in 1890."

1. Lippincott was president of The North American Phonograph Company.
2. Edison never bought the Columbia Phonograph Company.
3. The Columbia Phonograph Company wasn't moribund at all in 1890.
4. Edison rebought his phonograph patents by auction from The North American Phonograph Company in 1896.

[Neophone]

Starkton,

Yes that bit about Columbia caught my eye. Columbia did have something to do with distributing Edison's Phonographs in its infancy didn't it? Thank you.


Regards,
John

[Lenoirstreetguy]

Interesting. It is my understanding that Berliner's relations with both Bell and Eldridge R Johnson were basically cordial. The first Canadian Berliner machines were manufactured in the Northern Electric factory in Montreal...that is to say the manufacturing arm of the Canadian Bell Telephone company which implies relations were good. And when Victor got annoyed with Herbert Berliner ( my avatar) when he made his bid for greater independence for the Berliner Gram-O-Phone they exerted leverage through his father in order to bring things back to their way of thinking.
I think both Herbert and Emile were fascinating individuals. Both were involved in philanthropic enterprises which gives them an A+ in my book.

Jim

[bostonmike1]

hello my friends---John and others of this community, please NEVER refrain from posting any information you my find out of fear of published/written inaccuracies.the responses are a prime example of the knowledge and intelligence of the members of this forum. history is a "blurry vision" of what one believed at the time it was written or what one perceives it to be. i stand a good chance of being banished from this forum for my next statement because it and or politics does not belong here, but it is only for an example of my point. the Bible is a series of stories which were an interpretation of their beliefs at the time and it is hotly debated to this day (i was one step from the seminary before i got drafted in 1968 and was shipped to Vietnam for two tours--where i cannot say i found God ,[although to this day i thank Him for HIS great invention] that sex is inherently good. i was only 18 years old so God took a backseat--- as did other willing females whenever i was back stateside). what i am trying to say in my convoluted and confusing way is that discussion and or discourse is THE MOST PRECIOUS right we all own! our members will debate the issues at hand----hopefully as has been exhibited in the past on this forum, in a respectful manner ( and many laughs). your friend michael

[PhonoJack]

Friends,

In Search of more Truths about Emile Berliner

It’s no secret that I am a big fan of Emile Berliner. Please see my personal web site at http://www.phonojack.com/Berliner.htm The papers Emile Berliner – an Unheralded Genius written by Samuel Kurinsky, undermine the reputation of this great man. I believe Berliner was a brilliant inventor and great humanitarian, but he made some serious ‘human’ errors and a few bad business decisions that are presented in this note. No doubt, I probably have made some errors in my response here, but I believe Kurinsky’s errors are intentional and made to serve some purpose for which I am not sure. After reading Kurinsky’s papers, I’m left with the message that Berliner was a victim of the American system, (business, courts and the United States Government) because he was Jewish. I say Berliner would politely and proudly shout, “not true”. Kurinsky’s notes are full of errors. John asked me to “point out a few of the errors”.

-Kurinsky complains that ‘only one far from complete biography was published’… and a book with a forward written by Herbert Hoover ‘is now virtually unavailable’.

You wouldn’t expect that a book titled Emile Berliner: Maker of the Microphone to be appealing to a very large audience of readers. The first printing completed in 1926, contained a forward written by a relatively unknown American bureaucrat, Herbert Hoover. It’s not likely that a forward by Hoover then would make any difference in demand for the book. Hoover wasn’t elected president until 1933.

As for the book being ‘virtually unavailable’, you can buy this book from any antiquarian bookseller for about $100. Or just go to amazon.com and buy it for half that price. You can also get it any library system. Interesting that there is a nice condition autographed copy of this book at Calvin Coolidge’s Presidential Library at the Forbes Library in Northampton MA. A third printing was produced by the Arno Press in 1974. IEEE members can get on-line access to this book. I don’t believe anyone has blocked additional printings as there was simply no real demand for this book. Today, few people know that Jon Rubinstien of Apple invented the iPod.

-Kurinsky complains using the example that Berliner’s helicopter won a contract with the US Gov’t over Curtiss and Boeing proposal for a superior aircraft; he says this and other info was not included in Emile Berliner’s biography.

The first Berliner biography was printed in 1926 three years before Berliner’s helicopter design was selected by the US Gov't beating the proposal from Curtis/Boeing.

-Kurinsky complains. ‘Bits and pieces of Berliner’s accomplishments can be gathered from such disparate sources as court litigation archives…and collectors of Nipper lore. He states ‘some skewed information can be culled from literature about companies which appropriated and cashed in on Berliners seminal inventions, chief among which are the Bell Telephone Company, Western Union and companies associated with Thomas Alva Edison.

Kurinsky takes shots at a long list of people here. First, after Berliner had filed his own caveat (which he wrote without the help of a patent attorney). Alexander Graham Bell after seeing this caveat offered Berliner a job with American Bell Telephone; where he eagerly sold his patent and rights to use the carbon resistance microphone (a patent registered while he was employed at ABT) for the sum of $100,000. He also earned $5000 annual royalty payments for life. This compensation allowed Berliner to leave ABT (in Boston) after a few years and continue his work as an independent inventor (in Washington DC).

It is a fact that Edison working for Western Union at that time independently developed a carbon resistance microphone. After long, protracted litigation, the federal court ruled that Edison’s microphone patent was valid. Berliner never claimed that Edison stole his design, Berliner claimed until the day he died that he invented his own carbon resistance microphone. Interesting at the time Edison developed the microphone, Western Union made the dumbest business decision possible at that time and exited the telephony business to go after telegraphy.

I don’t understand Kurinsky’s shot at Edison as Edison had independently developed and patented a telephone microphone suitable for Western Union who later sold Edison’s design to American Bell Telephone. More on this at http://www.phonojack.com/Berliner.htm Please see Berliner and Bell.

-Kurinsky’s diatribe on Electronic Acoustics in the 1870’s section is a collection of mostly accurate facts and some glaring inaccuracies pieced together with a chronology and much conjecture that incorrectly rewrites this history. He proposes that Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Grey (archrivals) ‘appear to have had access to Philip Reis papers at Western Union’ leading the reader to believe they stole Reis’ telephone invention. He throws in a list of inventors who were all wronged. He accuses the Bell Company saying they ‘exercised pressure on, or actually bribed the judge’, serious accusations without any evidence.

-Kurinsky says Berliner ‘had stronger grounds for a case against the usurpers of his inventions’. Several of Berliner’s friends made claims that others stole from him. Berliner’s handwritten notes with his archived papers indicate he was embarrassed by those claims and he wanted to set the record straight.

-Kurinsky says, “The U, S. Supreme Court confirmed him (Berliner) as the true inventor of mechanisms claimed by Bell, Edison, and others”.
He says Berliner did win his case in court. Not true, Berliner was never involved in a battle claiming he invented a telephone. Berliner in fact lost the battle for the claim that he exclusively invented the telephone transmitter. Berliner was so upset about this particular court ruling (fearing inaccurate claims perhaps such as those made by Kurinsky) he continued for many years to collect documentation and notes (in a scrapbook) that clearly supports his claim the he invented a type of functional microphone, not the subject telephone.

Berliner specifically asked that the volumes of these telephone litigation papers be preserved so that his reputation would be protected. These papers which are stored at the U.S. Library of Congress- Berliner Collection are available to the public.

Berliner never complained that Edison or anyone stole his microphone or telephony research. Berliner never complained that Edison or anyone stole his gramophone or related research.

-Kurinsky’s claims that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled (in favor of Berliner) against American Bell are simply not true. First, the motion before the US Supreme Court on 11/11/85 was denied. Second, the request to get the US Supreme Court to cancel the patent would have been bad news for Bell and Berliner who were on the same side.

The second US Supreme Court ruling involving Berliner requested a ruling that American Bell Telephone patent (for Berliner’s transmitter and receiver) granted in 1891 to ABT as assignee of Emile Berliner be ‘set aside as an instrument of fraud’. The Supreme Court said, “We have been unable to offer a syllable of testimony tending to show that the applicant ever in any way corrupted or attempted to corrupt any officials of the department”. Again Bell and Berliner were on the same side so Kurinsky’s supposition that Bell stole from Berliner makes no sense.

“The Mechanical Reproduction of Sound” section is nothing more than mudslinging and more accusations that these inventors stole from each other. Kurinsky attempts to throw Berliner into the middle of several inaccurate suppositions about Leon Scott, and attempts to discredit Edison, Chichester Bell and Charles Sumner Tainter who he says stole from each other.

I think many readers of this board will recognize that Kurinsky again inserts tidbits of accurate information, but fail to present the truth. For example, he says “in 1901 Edison introduced ‘Gold Mold’ cylinders… which did not endure” He then leads the reader to believe Edison failed when he writes: In that same year, 1901, Emile Berliner (United States Gramophone Company) engaged the Victor Company, headed by Eldridge R. Johnson, to produce his gram-o-phone. It was marketed as the "Victrola." The Victor Co. "Released ‘Red Seal’ discs with 4-minute capacity for $1.00 each, featuring famous European artists, such as tenor Enrico Caruso and baritone Mattia Battistini. They set the standard for the industry. Berliner records are the prized possessions of the world’s record collectors.” We know that these events did not unfold in the sequence stated by Kurinsky.

The entire section under Treason is also a collection of correct statements but these too are incorrectly sequenced. He minimizes Frank Seaman to ‘a contractor to publicize the product’.

It this kind of misinformation that leads some (including a knowledgeable member of this board) to wrongly believe:

“the boys from Victor basically stole his invention & pushed him out of the loop”. Not true!


Victor did not steal Berliner’s invention. Victor did not push him out of the loop. In fact, there was no battle between Berliner and Johnson (founder of Victor Talking Machines), They were business partners and friends. If you look at the business agreement between Berliner, Johnson and Seaman, you can readily understand why Seaman had no choice but to try to re-negotiate prices that would allow him to be profitable. Berliner’s team insisted in a cost plus, fixed price agreement with Johnson, that wouldn’t allow Seamen to sell Berliner’s gramophones manufactured by Johnson, profitably.

To eliminate some of the confusion here, remember that Berliner was the patent holder (acting much like a virtual company) who exclusively purchased the machines from Johnson (paying Johnson’s very profitable mark-up) and sold them to Seaman (National Gramophone) for an additional 40% mark-up an incredibly profitable (perhaps unfair) arrangement as Johnson shipped directly to Seaman. So Berliner had no manufacturing, very limited engineering (most was done by Johnson) no distribution and no marketing and sales, what we might today call a virtual company that outsourced is operations.

Johnson and Seaman on the other hand made all the investment in materials, manufacturing, people etc. So for awhile, Berliner enjoyed an incredibly profitable arrangement, essentially a 40% royalty, unreasonable by any measure. This fixed price agreement ultimately back-fired on Berliner when Seaman legally chose the option (which was written in the agreement) to seek another manufacturer if he could find one that could build a product of same or better quality at 5% less cost. As we know, this ultimately launched the Zonophone which was manufactured by Universal Talking Machines Company. I believe that ‘bad guy’ Seaman has been and continues to be wrongly vilified.

Berliner’s battles were really with the American Graphophone Company (who owned the Bell and Tainter patents) and the Columbia Phonograph Company who ultimately was granted an injunction against Berliner, which essentially shut down Berliner’s attempt to manufacture and distribute the Berliner branded gramophone in the United States. So Berliner (really Tom Parvin, president and the Berliner directors) made two serious business errors, 1) fix prices unusually high so that Seaman (National Gramophone) Berliner’s primary US channel could not survive profitably and 2) launch the patent infringement attack on American Graphophone which Berliner ultimately lost.

Many wrongfully assume that Victor was the victor.

Remember, Victor Talking Machines had not yet been established as Eldridge Johnson who owned the manufacturing facilities and large number of employees continued to manufacture and sell (again after losing to National Gramophone) Berliner’s patented machines under the name Consolidated Talking Machine Company. Then after the dust settled, he began operating under the name Eldridge R. Johnson Company.

Johnson and Berliner later collaborated to form the Victor Talking Machine Company. At the time (VTM) was organized, Berliner was richly rewarded earning more reasonable patent royalties (even though Johnson, Montross and engineers) could have reasonably argued their next generation machines were substantially different that Berliner’s original design. In addition, Berliner earned sufficient equity (shares of stock) in Victor that he could retire from the gramophone business.

Berliner and his sons enjoyed a very profitable relationship with Johnson’s VTM for many years. Ultimately the Berliner operation in Canada was acquired by Victor.
Jack Whelan