Pictures from the Smithsonian National Museum of American History
Acoustic Devices
Edison tin foil phonograph 1879
Tainter graphophone 1886
Columbia graphophone 1897
Berliner gramophone 1888
Tainter lateral-cut disc 1881
Electrical Devices
Transistor tape recorder in brown case - ca. 1960
Steelman portable transistor tape recorder - ca. 1960
Wireway wire recorder ca. 1950
Eico tuner AM-FM ca. 1950
Fortin electrical pick-up 1912
Fi-Cord tape recorder ca. 1960
Mikiphone pocket phonograph 1917
Decca phonograph ca. 1930
Clarkson tonearm ca. 1960
Pilotuner component tuner ca. 1947
VOA and NBC microphones ca. 1950
Sony compact disc player ca. 1982
Fisher turntable 1938
Fisher receiver 1938
Exhibits
Dictaphone 1907
Perfected Graphophone 1898
Soundmirror tape recorder 1948
High Fidelity components 1960
Mutoscope 1900
AMI jukebox 1946
Orthacoustic record 1930
Morse telegraph 1846
Jacquard punch cards 1804
Tainter Patents to 1886
Patent 235,496 granted 1880/12/14 - Photophone
Patent 235,497 granted 1880/12/14 - Selenium cells
Patent 235,590 granted 1880/12/14 - Selenium cells
Patent 341,212 granted 1886/05/04 - the air-jet recorder
Patent 341,214
granted 1886/05/04 - the basic graphophone patent
Tainter Patents 1886-1887
Patent 341,287 granted 1886/05/04 - magnetic recording on iron record
Patent 341,288
granted 1886/05/04 -improved cylinder holder
Patent 374,133 granted 1887/11/29 - helically-wound cylinder
Patent 375,579 granted 1887/12/27 - treadle graphophone
Tainter Patents 1888-1890
Patent 380,535 granted 1888/04/03 - improved graphophone
Patent 385,886 granted 1888/07/10 - disk graphophone
Patent 385,887 granted 1888/07/10 - disk-shaped tablet
Patent 421,450 granted 1890/02/18 - ozocerite coating for tablets
Patent 428,646 granted 1890/05/27 - machine to make cylinders
Tainter Patents 1890-1901
Patent 506,348 granted 1893/10/10 - Coin controlled graphophone
Patent 670,442 granted 1901/03/26 - Graphophone record duplicating machine
Patent 730,986 granted 1901/06/16 - motor-controlled disc graphophone
Tainter Home Notes - March 28, 1881 - wax engraving
Tainter Home Notes - April 3, 1881 - photophone
Tainter Home Notes - May 8-27, 1881 - Disc engraving
Tainter Papers - Portraits
Tainter Papers - Magazine Illustrations
Figures 1-3 from
the article "The Graphophone" in
Harper's Weekly
1886/07/17
Figures 1-7 from
the article "The Graphophone" in
Electrical World
1888/07/14
Warshaw Collection of ads
© 1999 by Steven E. Schoenherr. All rights reserved.
The photos on these pages are used with permission of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. They may not be reproduced or distributed without written permission of the NMAH.
digital photos taken June 21, 1999 by Schoenherr | Return to
Recording Technology History Notes
| this page revised July 12, 1999