Twinkle, twinkle little star ; Edison Talking Doll cylinder, metal ; TENHP collection

Twinkle, twinkle little star ; Edison Talking Doll cylinder, metal (prototype design) ; TENHP collection (EDIS 1279)

Photo credit: Michael Devecka

Title: Twinkle, twinkle little star (poem written by Jane Taylor)

Record type: Edison Talking Doll cylinder, metal (prototype design)

Recording date and location: Fall of 1888, Edison Phonograph Works, West Orange, New Jersey

From collection: Thomas Edison National Historical Park, National Park Service

Provenance of the cylinder: National Park Service museum curators first cataloged this cylinder in 1967. It had been found among items left in the desk of Edison's secretary William H. Meadowcroft, located in the library of the Edison Laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey. A paper tag found tied to the cylinder reads: "Tin Phonograph Cylinder […] Record".

NPS object catalog number: EDIS 1279

Thomas A. Edison, Incorporated Historical Division catalog number: E-821-8

Specifications of the cylinder object:

· Estimated outer diameter (if not misshaped): ~ 2.5 inch

· Estimated inner diameter (if not misshaped): ~ 2.2 inch

· Width: 0.4 inch

· Thickness: 0.13 inch

· Groove type: Vertical ; square-cut.

· Groove turns per inch: 50 TPI

· Marking found inside the cylinder: "T"

Source of the digital audio: The cylinder was digitized on May 11, 2011 at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory using IRENE-3D scanning technology.

 
 
 
 

Last updated: April 13, 2015

Park footer

Contact Info

Mailing Address:

211 Main Street
West Orange, NJ 07052

Phone:

973-736-0550 x11
Phones are monitored as staff are available with messages being checked Wednesday - Sunday. If a ranger is unavailable to take your call, we kindly ask that you leave us a detailed message with return contact information and we will be happy to get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you.

Contact Us