Recording devices on Exhibit in the NMAH

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  1. Dictaphone 1907
  2. Perfected Graphophone 1898
  3. Soundmirror tape recorder 1948
  4. High Fidelity components 1960
  5. Mutoscope 1900
  6. AMI jukebox 1946
  7. Orthacoustic record 1930
  8. Morse telegraph 1846
  9. Jacquard punch cards 1804

1. Dictaphone 1907

Dictaphone made by the Columbia Graphophone Manufacturing Co. of New York ca. 1907
from Smithsonian NMAH
Dictaphone made by the Columbia Graphophone Manufacturing Co. of New York ca. 1907
from Smithsonian NMAH
office desk with Ediphone ca. 1920
from Smithsonian NMAH
office desk with Ediphone ca. 1920
from Smithsonian NMAH

2. The Perfected Graphophone 1898

Graphophone used by Alice Fletcher, a collaborator of James Murie, to record Pawnees 1898
from Smithsonian NMAH
Graphophone used by Alice Fletcher, a collaborator of James Murie, to record Pawnees 1898
from Smithsonian NMAH
Graphophone used by Alice Fletcher, a collaborator of James Murie, to record Pawnees 1898
from Smithsonian NMAH
Graphophone used by Alice Fletcher, a collaborator of James Murie, to record Pawnees 1898
from Smithsonian NMAH

3. Soundmirror tape recorder 1948

Soundmirror magnetic tape recorder by The Brush Development Co. ca. 1948
from Smithsonian NMAH
Audiotape ca. 1960
from Smithsonian NMAH

4. High Fidelity components 1960

Garrard HiFi portable phonograph ca. 1960
from Smithsonian NMAH
Garrard HiFi portable phonograph ca. 1960
from Smithsonian NMAH
early HiFi turntable ca. 1945
from Smithsonian NMAH
Dynakit hifi amplifier ca. 1960
from Smithsonian NMAH
Motorola HiFi phonograph ca. 1955
from Smithsonian NMAH
Motorola HiFi phonograph ca. 1955
from Smithsonian NMAH
Philco television set ca. 1950
from Smithsonian NMAH
Grebe synchrophase radio receiver 1925 and Western Electric electrical loudspeaker 1924
from Smithsonian NMAH
typical living room ca. 1955 with TV set
from Smithsonian NMAH
typical living room ca. 1955 with 45 rpm records piled on end of couch
from Smithsonian NMAH

5. Mutoscope 1900

Mutoscope from the American Mutoscope and Biograph Co. of NY 1900
from Smithsonian NMAH
Mutoscope from the American Mutoscope and Biograph Co. of NY 1900
from Smithsonian NMAH

6. AMI jukebox 1946

AMI jukebox 1946
from Smithsonian NMAH
AMI jukebox 1946 (no flash)
from Smithsonian NMAH
exhibit caption: "In the 1930s jukebox manufacturers began to perceive that their amount of "play" had something todo with the appearance of their machines: the more color and visible "action" the better. In 1938 AMI debuted its Streamliner, which featured flourescent lighting behind multicolored acrylic panels. As with all jukebox makers, AMI ceased production during the war. But in 1946 the company was ready to hit the market with the jukebox shown here, the Model A, which was to become an all-time classic. It was known as the "Mother of Plastic." In the Model A, revolving cylinders lit from insidecarried the Streamliner's combination of fluorescent lights and multicolored acrylics to new heights. Junkeboxes such as this were a celebration of the qualities inherent in plastics -- translucency, colorability, plasticity itself."

7. Orthacoustic record 1930

Orthacoustic radio recording record for NBC radio show "The Lone Ranger" ca. 1930
from Smithsonian NMAH
Soundscriber green office dictation disc ca. 1945
from Smithsonian NMAH

8. Morse telegraph 1846

Morse telegraph 1846
from Smithsonian NMAH
Morse telegraph 1846
from Smithsonian NMAH
Morse telegraph 1846
from Smithsonian NMAH

9. Jacquard punch cards 1804

Jacquard loom with punch cards ca. 1840
from Smithsonian NMAH
Jacquard loom with punch cards ca. 1840
from Smithsonian NMAH
Jacquard developed punch cards 1804
from Smithsonian NMAH
Jacquard developed punch cards 1804
from Smithsonian NMAH
exhibit caption: "Joseph Marie Jacquard's inspiration of 1804 revolutionized patterned textile waving. For the first time, fabrics with big, fancy designs could be woven automatically by one man working without assistants. Jacquard never obtained a patent for this device. His 1801 patent, issued for an improved drawloom, is often mistaken for the punched-card controlled device that bears his name. Working in Lyon, France, Jacquard had created his machine by combining two earlier French inventors' ideas: he applied Jean Falcon's chain of punched cards to the cylinder mechanism of Jacques Vaucanson. Then he mounted his device on top of a treadle-operated loom. This was the earliest use of punched cards programmed to contral a manufacturing process. Although he created his mechanism to aid the local silk industry, it was soon applied to cotton, wool, and linen weaving. It appeared in the United States about 1825 or 1826. William Horstmann, the owner of a Philadelphia firm, may have introduced it here for weaving coach laces. Erastus Bigelow was issued the first patent for a Jacquard power loom in 1842. He used the loom for ingrain carpet weaving."
Jacquard loom with punch cards ca. 1801
from Smithsonian NMAH

© 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 NMAH or Recording Technology History Notes | this page revised July 7, 1999