Of all the distinctions belonging to men and women that seem to remain intact, even after we have grown old, is the distinct sound of our voice. Hearing from a long ago friend after years of drifting apart, a voice continues to remain true. It has the ability to stir up memories, some happy some not; but regardless of the recollections, the voice returns us to a lost place, a time, an emotion, or just a smile.
So even when a face and body has changed, it is often the sounds we hear that allows us to close our eyes and recall a misplaced memory.
Today’s blog introduces to us the esteemed thinker: Thomas A.Edison; the renowned American inventor who brought the sound of “voice” into the home. The phonograph may not be today seen as a modern miracle, however go back to the 1870s and such a devise was indeed a universal marvel. The first patent that was ever granted on a device for permanently recording the human voice and other sounds, and for reproducing the same audibly at any future time, was United States Patent issued to Edison on February 19, 1878, the application having been filed December 24, 1877. “Mary had a little lamb” were the first words that Edison recorded on the phonograph and he was amazed when he heard the machine play them back to him. ““I was never so taken aback in my life,” he recounted. “I was always afraid of things that worked the first time.”
Edison (1847-1931 b. Milan, Ohio) held more than 1,000 patents for his inventions such as the light bulb and motion picture camera. However, it is the phonograph that we herald in today’s blog, for it saves “the voice” for us even after the speaker is long gone.
First image: Man, two women and two children listening to phonograph–Girl is holding doll and another doll is under Christmas tree with a portrait of Edison: 1897
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