TheRed1
Console Conservationist
I've lived in the area for most of my life and only recently discovered that the Graphophone (an improved version of Edison's Phonograph invented by Charles S. Tainter at Alexander Graham Bell's Volta Laboratory - ancestor of the famous Bell Labs), the Gramophone (Emile Berliner's lateral-cut, spiral groove, disc-format talking machine) and the Columbia Phonograph Co. (corporate ancestor of Columbia Records and CBS) all had their start in Washington DC in the 1880s. If you're ever in town and interested in the ancient history of our hobby, there are still a few relics of the recording industry's infancy scattered around town.
In Georgetown at 1527 35th St. NW is the house once owned by Prof. Alexander Melville Bell, the father of Alexander Graham Bell. After the latter's invention of the telephone he received the $10,000 Volta Prize from the French government. With that money he established the Volta Laboratory for the study of the transmission of sound. In the spring of 1881 A. Graham Bell, his cousin Chichester Bell and Charles Sumner Tainter began work on improving Edison's neglected Phonograph. Some sources state that it was here, in the carriage house (garage) of A. Melville Bell's house that work on what was to become the Graphophone was begun.
However, if you go by Charles S. Tainter's "Home Notes" that he kept during his work at the Volta Labs, it would appear that the location of the Lab in the spring of 1881 was 1221 Connecticut Ave., NW - currently the location of the "Lucky Bar" (a sports bar) and "Julia's Empanadas". This makes sense to me since Alexander Graham Bell was then living one block away at 1331 Connecticut Ave., NW. Though the patents credit Chichester Bell and Charles S. Tainter, A. Graham Bell was definitely directly involved in the effort as is evidenced in letters he wrote to his father in this period.
This is an old photo of the home of Emile Berliner at 1458 Columbia Rd., NW. Built with the money he made from his invention of the microphone which he sold to Bell's telephone company; it was here sometime in the mid-1880s that he set about creating what he would call the Gramophone.
The Berliner home no longer exists. This apartment building stands in its place.
What originally led me down this trail of discovery was my curiosity as to why consoles are frequently called Radiograms (Radio-Gramophones) in other English-speaking countries. Here in the US, consoles were originally known a Radio-Phonographs. So why did we call a Phonograph what the rest of the world called a Gramophone? Apparently it was the result of some horrendous legal battles fought among the competing talking machine companies around the turn of the century. It's all very confusing but it appears to me that Emile Berliner got shafted. With an injunction against his company forbidding the use of the name he coined for his own invention, the Gramophone; he eventually ended up selling his interests to Eldridge Johnson (who went on to found Victor Talking Machines - ancestor corporation of RCA).
So it was the Gramophone that eventually triumphed (Victor Talking Machines - get it?) in all but name. Berliner went on to set up Gramophone companies all over the world. As a result, only here in the US did we insist on calling a Gramophone, a Phonograph. The Phonograph was a spinning cylinder with vertically-incised groove whereas the Gramophone was a disc with a spiral, laterally-incised groove.
To me, Emile Berliner is the quintessential forgotten genius. Microphone - Gramophone - Helicopter/Light-Weight Radial Engine (with his son) - Pasteurization of Milk . . . I visited his graveside in Rock Creek Cemetery (section N) with reverence:
Our next stop is at 627 E. St., NW, the one-time home of the Columbia Phonograph Company (prior to 1893). The building is still pretty much intact. It used to be a major gallery but that having recently folded it is currently vacant and for lease. I have read in several sources that this was the site where the very first commercial musical recordings were produced and the first recordings of the female voice took place. But these sources do not reference any primary documentation.
Not far away at 800 F. St., NW, is the National Portrait Gallery, the old part of which was the Old Patent Office where all of the inventors' models were once kept on display. That and the collections of the Smithsonian were big draws for would-be inventors in the late 19th century. You could take a close look at the work of other inventors. Berliner's starting point was Scott's 1857 Phonoautograph which was then on display at the Smithsonian.
After 1893 Columbia moved to 919 E St., NW. That building no longer exists - the entire 900 block on the south side of E St. is now the FBI's J. Edgar Hoover headquarters building as seen on the left side of this photo.
I recently acquired my own little piece of DC's audio history in the form of a Columbia 1898 Model Q Graphophone. They are apparently fairly common as they were Columbia's least expensive model at $5. I'd been looking for something with a Berliner/Gramophone connection but such items are apparently quite rare and far beyond my means. I saw it on CL and bought it from a local collector. His house was like a museum and I got an upgraded tour since I was helping fund it. He threw in a 1903 Edison 2-minute cylinder "On the High Alps" and it plays very smoothly and surprisingly loud given the tiny horn (the only part that isn't original, though it is a nice reproduction).
The book, "The Music Goes Round" by Frederick W. Gaisberg, a native Washingtonian, gives a fascinating first-hand account of birth of the recording industry from the perspective of a teenage musician/talent scout. He worked first for Bell/Tainter providing musical talent and LOUD piano accompaniment for their early experiments with the Graphophone. Most of these earliest recording subjects were announcers and vendors from DC's Union Station or street performers from the streets of DC. Gaisberg was sort of like the first A&R guy though he did far more including setting up and running the multiple recorders that were required to obtain multiple copies of a performance.
Later on he went to work for Berliner and ended up traveling the world at the dawn of the 20th century; recording the great talents of each country he visited and helping set up Gramophone companies all over Europe, Russia and even the Far East. His life was just amazing. One of the best books I have ever read, period.
In Georgetown at 1527 35th St. NW is the house once owned by Prof. Alexander Melville Bell, the father of Alexander Graham Bell. After the latter's invention of the telephone he received the $10,000 Volta Prize from the French government. With that money he established the Volta Laboratory for the study of the transmission of sound. In the spring of 1881 A. Graham Bell, his cousin Chichester Bell and Charles Sumner Tainter began work on improving Edison's neglected Phonograph. Some sources state that it was here, in the carriage house (garage) of A. Melville Bell's house that work on what was to become the Graphophone was begun.
However, if you go by Charles S. Tainter's "Home Notes" that he kept during his work at the Volta Labs, it would appear that the location of the Lab in the spring of 1881 was 1221 Connecticut Ave., NW - currently the location of the "Lucky Bar" (a sports bar) and "Julia's Empanadas". This makes sense to me since Alexander Graham Bell was then living one block away at 1331 Connecticut Ave., NW. Though the patents credit Chichester Bell and Charles S. Tainter, A. Graham Bell was definitely directly involved in the effort as is evidenced in letters he wrote to his father in this period.
This is an old photo of the home of Emile Berliner at 1458 Columbia Rd., NW. Built with the money he made from his invention of the microphone which he sold to Bell's telephone company; it was here sometime in the mid-1880s that he set about creating what he would call the Gramophone.
The Berliner home no longer exists. This apartment building stands in its place.
What originally led me down this trail of discovery was my curiosity as to why consoles are frequently called Radiograms (Radio-Gramophones) in other English-speaking countries. Here in the US, consoles were originally known a Radio-Phonographs. So why did we call a Phonograph what the rest of the world called a Gramophone? Apparently it was the result of some horrendous legal battles fought among the competing talking machine companies around the turn of the century. It's all very confusing but it appears to me that Emile Berliner got shafted. With an injunction against his company forbidding the use of the name he coined for his own invention, the Gramophone; he eventually ended up selling his interests to Eldridge Johnson (who went on to found Victor Talking Machines - ancestor corporation of RCA).
So it was the Gramophone that eventually triumphed (Victor Talking Machines - get it?) in all but name. Berliner went on to set up Gramophone companies all over the world. As a result, only here in the US did we insist on calling a Gramophone, a Phonograph. The Phonograph was a spinning cylinder with vertically-incised groove whereas the Gramophone was a disc with a spiral, laterally-incised groove.
To me, Emile Berliner is the quintessential forgotten genius. Microphone - Gramophone - Helicopter/Light-Weight Radial Engine (with his son) - Pasteurization of Milk . . . I visited his graveside in Rock Creek Cemetery (section N) with reverence:
Our next stop is at 627 E. St., NW, the one-time home of the Columbia Phonograph Company (prior to 1893). The building is still pretty much intact. It used to be a major gallery but that having recently folded it is currently vacant and for lease. I have read in several sources that this was the site where the very first commercial musical recordings were produced and the first recordings of the female voice took place. But these sources do not reference any primary documentation.
Not far away at 800 F. St., NW, is the National Portrait Gallery, the old part of which was the Old Patent Office where all of the inventors' models were once kept on display. That and the collections of the Smithsonian were big draws for would-be inventors in the late 19th century. You could take a close look at the work of other inventors. Berliner's starting point was Scott's 1857 Phonoautograph which was then on display at the Smithsonian.
After 1893 Columbia moved to 919 E St., NW. That building no longer exists - the entire 900 block on the south side of E St. is now the FBI's J. Edgar Hoover headquarters building as seen on the left side of this photo.
I recently acquired my own little piece of DC's audio history in the form of a Columbia 1898 Model Q Graphophone. They are apparently fairly common as they were Columbia's least expensive model at $5. I'd been looking for something with a Berliner/Gramophone connection but such items are apparently quite rare and far beyond my means. I saw it on CL and bought it from a local collector. His house was like a museum and I got an upgraded tour since I was helping fund it. He threw in a 1903 Edison 2-minute cylinder "On the High Alps" and it plays very smoothly and surprisingly loud given the tiny horn (the only part that isn't original, though it is a nice reproduction).
The book, "The Music Goes Round" by Frederick W. Gaisberg, a native Washingtonian, gives a fascinating first-hand account of birth of the recording industry from the perspective of a teenage musician/talent scout. He worked first for Bell/Tainter providing musical talent and LOUD piano accompaniment for their early experiments with the Graphophone. Most of these earliest recording subjects were announcers and vendors from DC's Union Station or street performers from the streets of DC. Gaisberg was sort of like the first A&R guy though he did far more including setting up and running the multiple recorders that were required to obtain multiple copies of a performance.
Later on he went to work for Berliner and ended up traveling the world at the dawn of the 20th century; recording the great talents of each country he visited and helping set up Gramophone companies all over Europe, Russia and even the Far East. His life was just amazing. One of the best books I have ever read, period.
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