❖ Mary had a little lamb was the first song recorded / played on a phonograph by Edison

❖ It was invented in 1877 by Thomas Edison

❖ A year later, the Edison Standard Phonograph was manufactured, and then exhibited in
the press in 1898. This was the first phonograph to carry the Edison trademark design.
Prices for the phonographs had significantly diminished from its early days of $150 (in
1891) down to $20 for the Standard model and $7.50 for a model known as the Gem,
introduced in 1899.
❖ People bought the phonograph because even though it was expensive, you could listen
to music at home without having to pay for and go to a show.
❖ For example, the phonograph allowed soldiers to take music off to war with them. In
1917, when the U.S. became involved in World War I, the Edison Company created a
special model of the phonograph for the U.S. Army. This basic machine sold for $60.
 Many Army units purchased these phonographs because it meant a lot to the soldiers to
have music to cheer them and remind them of home.
❖ Edison suggested other uses for the phonograph, such as: letter writing and dictation,
phonographic books for blind people, a family record (recording family members in their
own voices), music boxes and toys, clocks that announce the time, and a connection
with the telephone so communications could be recorded.
❖ The phonograph was invented by poking different sized holes into a round metal piece,
then, spun around with a stick to make noise, kind of like a music box.
❖ How it works is you record a song and you are able to play it back. The phonograph is
battery powered and it plays music back. The receiver is made of a tin foil wrapped and
a thin membrane called the diaphragm which is connected to a needle. Music is directed
into the diaphragm and vibrates. This creates the soundwaves needed to create music.
Work Cited
“The phonograph .” Edison Invents the Phonograph,
www.americaslibrary.gov/aa/edison/aa_edison_phonograph_2.html​.

https://www.loc.gov/collections/edison-company-motion-pictures-and-sound-recordings/
articles-and-essays/history-of-edison-sound-recordings/history-of-the-cylinder-phonogra
ph/