The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

“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

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

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.