Phonograph and Experimental Sound Recording, Wax Disc on Binder’s Board: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

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.

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.

Materials, dates and provenance

• maker: Volta Laboratory Associates
• Object Name: experimental disc graphophone
• Object Name: experimental record player
• Object Name: graphophone
• Physical Description: wood (overall material)
• Physical Description: metal (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 15 in x 15 1/8 in x 12 in; 38.1 cm x 38.4175 cm x 30.48 cm
• place made: United States: District of Columbia, Washington
• ID Number: ME.287655.01
• catalog number: 287655.01
• accession number: 57694
• Credit Line: Gift of Alexander Graham Bell
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The displayed image also has an explicit CC0 designation.