Past & Present: The Gramophone (colour litho)

The Gramophone. Edison's First Phonograph. During the early 19th century several experimenters succeeded in recording on moving surfaces the vibrations of sounds, but T A Edison was the first to reproduce the sounds so recorded. In his first phonograph, patented 1877, the "record" was made on tin-foil, the vibrating diaphragm being parchment or gold-beater's skin. Modern Gramophone. The Gramophone was patented in 1887 by Emile Berliner, so that the modern instrument embodies the improvements of 40 years. The characteristic tone-qualities of the human voice, as well as of the various musical instruments, are reproduced with wonderful fidelity. Illustration for one of a set of cigarette cards on the subject of Past & Present issued by Wills in 1929.