Historical Speeches on
Edison Cylinders

Listen to the program

Thomas Edison originally envisioned sound recording as a tool for office dictation and not popular amusement, but eventually entertainment, primarily recorded music, prevailed. Nonetheless, from the earliest days of recorded sound, spoken word was also recorded on cylinders and sold for educational purposes such as language instruction, edification of the people through exposure to historical speeches, as well as for entertainment, including comic monologues and vaudeville sketches. This program presents examples of the second of these three categories.

Speeches by contemporary figures were recorded because of their current fame like the cylinders of actress Sarah Bernhard or because of their political importance such as the cylinders of Roosevelt, Taft, and Bryan. They are significant today becuase they are still important historical figures, but also because their voices are not well known today. Edison infrequently recorded, but his famous speech about WWI can be heard here. Other cylinders, like the recitations by Harry Humphrey including his dramatization of Patrick Henry's "Give me liberty or give me death" speech show which historical figures were admired and how history was viewed in the early 20th century.

This program begins with a cylinder that is somewhat different, Len Spencer's famous "Advertising Record" where he personifies the phonograph in a speech designed to demonstrate and sell phonographs in stores. This cylinder, recorded purely for commercial purposes has become historically significant itself, not unlike the famous television commercials created by Coca-Cola or Apple Computer. - David Seubert, UC Santa Barbara

• Advertising record. Len Spencer. Edison Gold Moulded Record. 1906
• Social and industrial justice. Theodore Roosevelt. Edison Blue Amberol: 3709. 1919.
• Phèdre. Sarah Bernhardt. Edison Amberol: 35008. 1910.
• Guaranty of bank deposits. William Jennings Bryan. Edison Gold Moulded Record: 9921. 1908.
• My south polar expedition. Lieutenant E.H. Shackleton. Edison Amberol: 473. 1910.
• Republican and Democratic treatment of trusts. William H. Taft. Edison Gold Moulded Record: 9998. 1908.
• The right of the people to rule. Theodore Roosevelt. Edison Blue Amberol: 3707. 1919
• The tariff question. William J. Bryan. Edison Gold Moulded Record: 9918. 1908
• Patrick Henry's speech. Harry E. Humphrey. Edison Blue Amberol: 1652. 1912.
• Sheridan's ride. Edgar L. Davenport. Edison Blue Amberol: 1957. 1913.
• Immortality. William J. Bryan. Edison Gold Moulded Record: 9923. 1908.
• The farmer and the business man. Theodore Roosevelt. Edison Blue Amberol 3708. 1919.
• Let us not forget. Thomas A. Edison. Edison Blue Amberol: 3756. 1919.