Jack and Jill ; Edison Talking Doll cylinder, brown wax ; Smithsonian Institution

Photo credit:  Smithsonian Institution

Title: Jack and Jill (English nursery rhyme)

Record type: Edison Talking Doll cylinder, brown wax (production design)

Recording date and location: c. February to May 1890, Edison Phonograph Works, West Orange, New Jersey

From collection: Smithsonian Institution

Provenance of the cylinder: A private collector donated this doll (with mechanism and cylinder) to the Smithsonian Institution in 1937.

Source of the digital audio: The cylinder was re-recorded to analog tape during the 1970s, using an unknown method of playback. Eastern National Park and Monument Association released the recording c. 1977 on a long-play (LP) album titled When Edison Recorded Sound, Volume 1. The audio heard here is digitized from the LP record.

 

• Jack and Jill (Restored audio)

  
  

  Edison Talking Doll cylinder, brown wax Smithsonian Institution collection Recording date: c. February to May 1890 Playback speed: Unknown. Re-pitched by ear.

  Credit / Author:

  Smithsonian Institution

 

• Jack and Jill (Audio not restored)

  
  

  Edison Talking Doll cylinder, brown wax Smithsonian Institution collection Recording date: c. February to May 1890 Playback speed: Unknown. This record sounds like it may have been hand-cranked using the doll, but no documentation has been found to confirm how it was played.

  Credit / Author:

  Smithsonian Institution

 

 

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