The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Interesting (to me) that by 1890, the phonograph was already 13 years old and still considered a "marvel." Today, that would be like people still looking with wonderment on any invention circa 2007 as being an object to astonish the masses today.

CharliePhono wrote:Interesting (to me) that by 1890, the phonograph was already 13 years old and still considered a "marvel." Today, that would be like people still looking with wonderment on any invention circa 2007 as being an object to astonish the masses today.

Keep in mind that the tinfoil phonograph was really of very limited use and frankly was more of a novelty than anything. Also keep in mind that for 10 years after Edison invented the phonograph, he did essentially nothing with it, focusing instead on the practical incandescent light bulb. It was the development of the removable wax cylinder in the late 1880s that made the phonograph useful. In other words, in 1890, the phonograph may have been 13 years old, but the practical phonograph was only 2-3 years old.

The presenter of this entertainment, Charles Steytler, had been touring much of Britain to promote the phonograph since the late 1880's, and in May 1890 he had recorded Alfred Lord Tennyson at his home on the Isle of Wight.
There were no sales of machines or records here at that time, and in April 1889 Steytler said that there were only seven phonographs in Britain. Six months later it was announced that there were 3,000 phonographs awaiting export from the USA to Britain, but intended for hire or leasing rather than outright sale.

Even in the U.S., exhibitions consisting only of the phonograph were quite popular until around 1896, when magic lantern/moving picture features were gradually added to the shows. There is ample evidence that phonograph exhibitions persisted in rural areas of the U.S. until several years into the 20th century.

George P.