Who knew one of history’s greatest inventors would come from New Jersey? Thomas Edison (1847-1931) would change the world from his lab in Menlo Park. Whether he was applying direct current to tungsten filament or electrocuting elephants, Edison was fascinated with the transmission of light and sound. He is also credited with inventing the phonograph and in 1877 affixed a wind-up wax cylinder into a small doll to create a kind of Ur-Teddy Ruxpin or Tickle-Me-Elmo. It recited “Little Jack Horner” in a voice that may have caused severe mental distress in all who heard it. Below are some of his earliest sound recordings, which range from beautiful, to strange, to terrifying—and in some cases all three.
Enjoy. Be afraid.
Early Edison Recordings
1. Aba Daba Honeymoon – Collins & Harlan
2. Alexander’s Ragtime Band – Murray
3. The Arkansas Traveler – Len Spencer
4. Darling Nellie Gray – Metropolitan Quartet
5. Edison Talking Doll – “Little Jack Horner” (1890)
6. Ground Hog Day at Pumpkin Center – Cal Stewart
7. Massa’s in The Cold, Cold, Ground – Fred Bacon
8. The Rube and the Country Doctor – Harlan & Stanley
9. Santa Claus Song – George P. Watson
