Wednesday, May 14, 2014

The Columbia Graphophone -- May 14, 2014


The original graphophone was a cylinder machine designed by Alexander Graham Bell and Charles Sumner Tainter as an improvement on Edison's phonograph.  Instead of using tinfoil wrapped around an iron cylinder, they recorded sound on a layer of wax around a cardboard core.  This produced better sound reproduction and more durable records.  The graphophone eventually became controlled by Columbia Records.  Columbia continued to use the name even after they began producing disc machines. 

This ad, from the 16-April-1905 Omaha Bee, offers a Columbia Disc Graphophone "Practically Free to Omaha Bee Readers."  Columbia Records offers "3,000 Different Selections From Grand Opera to Rag-Time." 

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