Vintage Phonographs

The phonograph, a device used for playing recorded sound, was invented by Thomas Edison in 1877. Edison developed the phonograph using a cylinder covered in tinfoil and a stylus to record and play back sound. The first recordings made on the phonograph were of Edison reciting the nursery rhyme “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” Over the years, improvements were made to the phonograph, including the use of wax cylinders and the development of the flat disc record. Emile Berliner, a German immigrant living in the United States, is credited with inventing the disc record in 1887. Disc records quickly became more popular than cylinder recordings because they were cheaper to produce and easier to store.

In the early 1900s, the phonograph became a popular household item, and companies such as Columbia and Victor began producing and selling records. By the 1920s, the phonograph had become a staple of American homes and was used for entertainment and to play music. In the 1940s and 1950s, the phonograph began to face competition from new technologies, such as the radio and television. However, it continued to be used by music lovers and collectors, and the development of the vinyl record in the 1950s helped to prolong the popularity of the phonograph.