What Was the Purpose of the Phonograph?

Thomas Edison invented the first practical phonograph in 1877 to record and replay sound. His patent application covered "talking machines and sound writers," which he called "phonographs."

Early Uses

In the 1880s, Edison marketed the phonograph as an office dictating machine, and as a coin-operated entertainment device for hotels and saloons. The original recording medium was a tinfoil-coated cylinder, followed by a wax cylinder.

Records

The next major step in the evolution of the modern phonograph was the production of a flat recording disk, which the inventor Emile Berliner called a "record." Berliner began mass-producing records in 1892, and they eventually replaced Edison's cylinders.

Sound Quality

Phonographs originally required hand-winding to operate. The speed of play and the quality of sound accordingly varied. With the advent of electric motors and amplifiers, sound reproduction improved in important ways. In 1958, durable plastic records replaced disks made of shellac and clay, which were more fragile.

References

• Robinson Library: History of the Phonograph
• Smithsonian Institution: Thomas Alva Edison and the Phonograph