Communications
Tools of communication have transformed American society time and again over the past two centuries. The Museum has preserved many instruments of these changes, from printing presses to personal digital assistants.
The collections include hundreds of artifacts from the printing trade and related fields, including papermaking equipment, wood and metal type collections, bookbinding tools, and typesetting machines. Benjamin Franklin is said to have used one of the printing presses in the collection in 1726.
More than 7,000 objects chart the evolution of electronic communications, including the original telegraph of Samuel Morse and Alexander Graham Bell's early telephones. Radios, televisions, tape recorders, and the tools of the computer age are part of the collections, along with wireless phones and a satellite tracking system.
2,478
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Volta Laboratory Experimental Recording
- Description
- This is an experimental sound recording made in the Volta Laboratory, Washington, D.C., on 11 March 1885. The recording process involved focusing a beam of light, projecting it through a liquid, and causing sound waves to interrupt both the light and the liquid to expose a prepared photographic plate. The recording, which starts at the center and spirals outward, is of variable density, that is the areas of exposure vary in density according to volume and pitch of the sound recorded. Process is described in U.S. Patent 341,213 awarded Alexander Graham Bell, Chichester A. Bell, and Charles Sumner Tainter on 4 May 1886.
- Sound was recovered from this recording in 2011.
- Content summary: “Mary had a little lamb”
- Content transcript (37 seconds):
- “ [?]…Sumner Tainter and H. G. Rogers. This eleventh day of March, eighteen hundred and eighty-five. [trilled r sound] [indistinct phrase] Mary had a little lamb, and its fleece was white as snow [alternatively, black as soot?] . And wherever Mary went…Oh [indistinct word].
- Mary had a little lamb, and its fleece was white as snow [alternatively, black as soot?].
- And wherever Mary went, the little lamb was sure to go. How is this for high? [trill]”
- References:
- Patrick Feaster, “A Discography of Volta Laboratory Recordings at the National Museum of American History”
- Leslie J. Newville, “Development of the Phonograph at Alexander Graham Bell's Volta Laboratory,” in Contributions from the Museum of History and Technology, United States National Museum Bulletin 218, Paper 5 (1959): 69-79.
- Steven E. Schoenherr, “Charles Sumner Tainter and the Graphophone,”
- Wile, Raymond R. "The Development of Sound Recording at the Volta Laboratory," Association for Recorded Sound Collections Journal 21, No. 2, 1990, pp. 208-225.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1885
- date recorded
- 1885-11-03
- ID Number
- ME.287654.11
- catalog number
- 287654.11
- accession number
- 57694
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Phonograph and Experimental Sound Recording, Wax Disc on Binder’s Board
- Description
- This is an experimental disc made in the Volta Laboratory, Washington, D.C. on an unknown date. It features two tunes of instrumental music. An unidentified cornet quartet plays “Killarney” and “Hot-Shot March.” The recording was found on an experimental piece of equipment, Cat. 287655.
- Sound was recovered from this recording in 2013.
- References:
- Patrick Feaster, “A Discography of Volta Laboratory Recordings at the National Museum of American History”
- Leslie J. Newville, “Development of the Phonograph at Alexander Graham Bell's Volta Laboratory,” in Contributions from the Museum of History and Technology, United States National Museum Bulletin 218, Paper 5 (1959): 69-79.
- Steven E. Schoenherr, “Charles Sumner Tainter and the Graphophone,”
- Wile, Raymond R. "The Development of Sound Recording at the Volta Laboratory," Association for Recorded Sound Collections Journal 21, No. 2, 1990, pp. 208-225.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- ME.287655
- catalog number
- 287655
- accession number
- 57694
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Volta Laboratory Experimental Sound Recording, Glass Disc
- Description
- This experimental sound recording was made in the Volta Laboratory, Washington, D.C., on 17 November 1884. The recording process involved focusing a beam of light, projecting it through a liquid, and causing sound waves to interrupt both the light and the liquid to expose a prepared photographic plate. This is a variable-area recording, that is, sound is represented by a spiral of that varies in width according to volume and pitch. The process is described in U.S. Patent 341,213 awarded Alexander Graham Bell, Chichester A. Bell, and Charles Sumner Tainter on 4 May 1886.
- Sound was recovered from this recording in 2011.
- Speaker: unknown
- Content (7 seconds): "ba-ro-me-ter" [repeated]
- References:
- Patrick Feaster, “A Discography of Volta Laboratory Recordings at the National Museum of American History”
- Leslie J. Newville, “Development of the Phonograph at Alexander Graham Bell's Volta Laboratory,” in Contributions from the Museum of History and Technology, United States National Museum Bulletin 218, Paper 5 (1959): 69-79.
- Steven E. Schoenherr, “Charles Sumner Tainter and the Graphophone,”
- Wile, Raymond R. "The Development of Sound Recording at the Volta Laboratory," Association for Recorded Sound Collections Journal 21, No. 2, 1990, pp. 208-225.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1884-11-17
- ID Number
- ME.287686
- accession number
- 57694
- catalog number
- 287686
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Graphophone
- Description
- This is a business dictation machine that uses wax cylinders to record and play back sound. The basic design for the machine emerged from research at the Volta Laboratory, Washington, D.C., the sound research facility established by Alexander Graham Bell with his associates Chichester Bell and Charles Sumner Tainter.
- Tainter refined the design, patented several versions of it, and oversaw the manufacturing of the first six experimental graphophones at Bergmann & Co in New York in 1885. He also supervised the making of commercial models in a sewing machine factory in Bridgeport, Conn., beginning in 1887. In these early commercial machines, the dictation apparatus sits atop a sewing machine table and employs a treadle to rotate the mandrel holding the cylinder recording.
- On this machine from 1888, the treadle is marked "American Graphophone Company"; the governor is marked "Patented July 20th 1886." The recorder-reproducer is marked: "The Phonograph-Graphophone m'f'd by the American Graphophone Company for Jesse H. Lippincott, Sole Licensee/ Type C No. 03042" and numerous patent dates.
- Reference:
- Wile, Raymond R. "The Development of Sound Recording at the Volta Laboratory," Association for Recorded Sound Collections Journal 21, No. 2, 1990, pp. 208-225.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- ME.287825
- catalog number
- 287825
- accession number
- 58498
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Experimental Sound Recording, Wax Disc on Binder’s Board
- Description
- This is an experimental sound recording made in the Volta Laboratory, Washington, D.C., on 15 April 1885. It is a recording of Alexander Graham Bell’s voice.
- In a ring around the center, it is inscribed in the wax: “Record made April 15 1885/AGB and C.A.B. [Chichester A. Bell]/to test reproduction of numbers./ Disk A. G. B. No. 1.” A paper document, probably in Alexander Graham Bell’s handwriting, with a transcription of the recording is 287881.02
- Sound was recovered from this recording in 2012. Transcript of recording (4:35 minutes):
- “[unintelligible] nineteen, twenty, twenty one, twenty two, twenty three, twenty four, twenty five, twenty six, twenty seven, twenty eight, twenty nine, thirty, thirty one, thirty two, thirty three, thirty four, thirty five, thirty six, thirty seven, thirty eight, thirty nine, forty, forty one, forty two, forty three, forty four, forty five, forty six, forty seven, forty eight, forty nine, fifty
- ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty, ninety, one hundred
- “one hundred, two hundred, three hundred, four hundred, five hundred, six hundred, seven hundred, eight hundred, nine hundred, one thousand
- “one thousand, two thousand, three thousand, four thousand, five thousand, six thousand, seven thousand, eight thousand, nine thousand, ten thousand
- “ten thousand, twenty thousand, thirty thousand, forty thousand, fifty thousand, sixty thousand, seventy thousand, eighty thousand, ninety thousand, one hundred thousand
- “one hundred thousand, two hundred thousand, three hundred thousand, four hundred thousand, five hundred thousand, six hundred thousand, seven hundred thousand, eight hundred thousand, nine hundred thousand, one million
- “three thousand five hundred and seventy one / one hundred and twenty three thousand nine hundred and forty one/ one hundred and twenty five thousand eight hundred and seventy three
- “one million nine hundred and forty five thousand eight hundred and seventy six / thirty-five thousand nine hundred / thirty three thousand eight hundred and seventy eight
- “forty eight thousand seven hundred and fifteen/ seven hundred and ninety thousand [no?] hundred and forty two / four million five hundred and thirty thousand eight hundred and seventy
- “forty five dollars and a half / eighty nine dollars and seventy three cents / four thousand [no?] hundred and twenty nine dollars and forty-six cents
- “thirty five cents / twenty five cents / thirty cents / fifty cents
- “half a dollar [a? seems to be missing] quarter dollar
- “three dollars and a half / five dollars and a quarter / seven dollars and twenty nine cents
- “ten dollars and a half / three thousand seven hundred and eighty five dollars and fifty six cents
- “This record has been made by Alexander Graham Bell
- in the presence of Dr. Chichester A. Bell ----
- on the 15th of April, eighteen hundred and eighty five at the Volta Laboratory
- Twelve hundred and twenty one Connecticut Avenue, Washington [D.C. ?]
- In witness whereof --- hear my voice Alexander Graham Bell”
- References:
- Patrick Feaster, “A Discography of Volta Laboratory Recordings at the National Museum of American History”
- Leslie J. Newville, “Development of the Phonograph at Alexander Graham Bell's Volta Laboratory,” in Contributions from the Museum of History and Technology, United States National Museum Bulletin 218, Paper 5 (1959): 69-79.
- Steven E. Schoenherr, “Charles Sumner Tainter and the Graphophone,”
- Wile, Raymond R. "The Development of Sound Recording at the Volta Laboratory," Association for Recorded Sound Collections Journal 21, No. 2, 1990, pp. 208-225.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- ME.287881.01
- accession number
- 58498
- catalog number
- 287881.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Transcript of Sound Recording, pencil on paper
- Description
- This undated paper transcript contains the words on experimental recording Cat. 287881, probably in the handwriting of Alexander Graham Bell.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- ME.287881.02
- accession number
- 58498
- catalog number
- 287881.02
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Volta Laboratory Experimental Sound Recording, Green Wax on Brass Disc
- Description
- This is an experimental sound recording made in the Volta Laboratory, Washington, D.C., about 1884. The wax, poured into a brass holder, has been dyed a bright green.
- Sound was recovered from this recording in 2011.
- Content summary: Hamlet’s soliloquy
- Content transcript (17 seconds):
- “To be, or not to be: that is the question. Whether it is nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing end them? To die, to sleep…”
- References:
- Patrick Feaster, “A Discography of Volta Laboratory Recordings at the National Museum of American History”
- Leslie J. Newville, “Development of the Phonograph at Alexander Graham Bell's Volta Laboratory,” in Contributions from the Museum of History and Technology, United States National Museum Bulletin 218, Paper 5 (1959): 69-79.
- Steven E. Schoenherr, “Charles Sumner Tainter and the Graphophone,”
- Wile, Raymond R. "The Development of Sound Recording at the Volta Laboratory," Association for Recorded Sound Collections Journal 21, No. 2, 1990, pp. 208-225.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- ME.287920
- catalog number
- 287920
- accession number
- 58498
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Sound Recording, Edison, Tin Foil
- Description
- This is a recording on a strip of tinfoil made on an Edison phonograph. The recording date is unknown. According to a letter in the accession file, Edison recalled lending a phonograph to the donor’s uncle in 1878. The donor’s uncle was, most likely, Dr. John Call Dalton, a prominent physiologist at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York, whom Edison consulted about his growing deafness in March 1878.
- Sound was recovered from this recording in 2013. Content on sound file is an indistinct male voice talking. Possibly “…"John A Sutherland[?]" and " Charles H. Dalton [?]” and “Yours truly [?]."
- Reference:
- Edison Papers, 03/02/1878 John Call Dalton to Thomas Edison
- maker
- Edison, Thomas A.
- ID Number
- ME.308131
- catalog number
- 308131
- accession number
- 70320
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Foghorn
- Description
- This galvanized metal foghorn was a standard piece of equipment on 19th-century fishing dories. It was used to convey the dory’s location during winter snowstorms and heavy fog. In such conditions, a member of the crew aboard the schooner would pump a larger foghorn continuously to make sure the dorymen were aware of the schooner’s location.
- Dories were small, open boats equipped with a sail and oars. Stacks of them were carried aboard large fishing schooners. Once a schooner reached the offshore fishing grounds, the dories were set in the water and manned by pairs of crewmen. These fishermen set their trawls—long lines with baited hooks—and then hauled them in, removing the fish into the dory. Once their dory was filled, the fishermen rowed or sailed back to the schooner to offload the catch and rebait the hooks, if needed.
- The prospect of getting separated from the schooner in bad weather and thick fog was a constant worry among fishermen on Georges and the Grand Banks. In addition to a dory compass, a water bottle, and hardtack, the foghorn was an essential part of a doryman’s survival kit.
- Date made
- 1880s
- maker
- Wilcox, Crittenden & Co.
- ID Number
- AG.029382
- catalog number
- 029382
- accession number
- 12705
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Telegraph Sounder
- Description (Brief)
- Telegraph sounders convert electrical pulses into audible sounds and are used to receive Morse code messages. The message travels as a series of electrical pulses through a wire. Short pulses make a dot, slightly longer pulses make a dash. The sequence of dots and dashes represent letters and numbers. The pulses energize the sounder’s electromagnets which move a lever-arm. The arm makes a loud “click” when it strikes a crossbar and the operator translates the pattern of sounds into the original language. The Dec. 3, 1889 patent date stamped on the binding screw refers to US Patent #418288, issued to Patrick B. Delany of New York City. The patent covers the design of the electrical binding post.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1891
- maker
- J. H. Bunnell & Co.
- ID Number
- EM.181116
- catalog number
- 181116
- accession number
- 25412
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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