America's Listening
Since 1877, when Thomas Edison first demonstrated his talking machine, Americans have had a longstanding and ongoing fascination with recorded sound. It has provided a kind of national soundtrack—one that not only reflects, but also shapes our sense of what it means to be American.
From this window shines the image of Nipper listening to a record—the trademark of Emile Berliner’s gramophone company that in 1901 became the Victor Talking Machine Company (later RCA). The window was one of four made in 1915 by D’Ascenzo Studios in Philadelphia for a tower at the Victor Company’s headquarters in Camden, New Jersey.
