Development of the Phonograph at Alexander Graham Bell's Volta Laboratory: Contributions from the Museum of History and Technology, United States National Museum Bulletin 218, Paper 5, (pages 69-79)

In Short

This historical paper documents how Alexander Graham Bell, Charles Sumner Tainter, and Chichester Bell refined early sound recording at Washington’s Volta Laboratory between 1879 and 1886. Operating on funds from Bell’s French Volta Prize, the team set out to fix Thomas Edison’s fragile tinfoil machine, which tore easily and produced squeaky, fleeting sound. By substituting wax for tinfoil and transitioning from indenting to cutting or engraving grooves, they secured the basic patents for the Graphophone, laying the essential technical foundation for commercial dictation machines and the modern audio recording industry.

The Story

The narrative opens in 1877 with Thomas Edison’s brilliant invention of the tinfoil phonograph. While the device captured the public imagination, it proved nearly useless in practice. The tinfoil surface torn with ease, adjustments were tedious, and playback was garbled and short-lived. Diverted by his commitments to develop New York City’s electric power system, Edison left his fragile invention unimproved.

Seeing an opportunity, Gardiner Green Hubbard, president of the struggling Edison Speaking Phonograph Co., encouraged his new son-in-law, Alexander Graham Bell, to tackle the problem. Fresh off his success with the telephone, Bell established the Volta Laboratory Association in Washington, D.C., using the 50,000-franc Volta Prize money he received from France. Joined by instrument maker Charles Sumner Tainter and chemist Chichester Bell, the team set up shop in a rented L Street house, equipped with a library of scientific texts from the Smithsonian Institution.

From 1879 to 1886, the collaborators engaged in broad, imaginative experimentation. They tested high-pressure air jets, liquid jets, and magnetic inks containing iron dust, along with various disc, cylinder, and paper-tape configurations. In 1881, they deposited an improved machine in a sealed box at the Smithsonian, choosing not to reveal their progress immediately.

The team's decisive breakthrough was abandoning Edison’s technique of indenting grooves on tinfoil. Instead, they used a sharp stylus to cut or engrave sound waves directly into wax or wax-coated surfaces. This produced durable records with clear sound reproduction. They experimented with both "hill-and-dale" vertical cuts and "zig-zag" lateral cuts, finding that soft wax held up better under vertical recording methods.

By 1885, confident in their results, the associates applied for formal patents, which were granted in May 1886. Seeking commercial application, they organized the Volta Graphophone Co. to hold the patents and the American Graphophone Co. to manufacture units in a Bridgeport, Connecticut factory managed by Tainter.

The story ends with institutional validation and commercial victory. Edison ultimately acknowledged that his own "new phonograph" infringed upon the Bell and Tainter wax-engraving patent and took out a license under their authority. Decades later, the physical models, notebooks, and sealed artifacts were delivered to the Smithsonian National Museum, securing the Volta team's role in audio history.

How It Unfolds

An unfulfilled discovery Thomas Edison invents the tinfoil phonograph in 1877, but the machine proves commercially impractical due to tearing foil and poor sound quality. Edison sets the project aside to focus on electric lighting, leaving the sound recording field open to improvement.

Organizing the Washington laboratory Alexander Graham Bell uses his French Volta Prize funds to establish a research association in Washington, D.C. He hires instrument maker Charles Sumner Tainter and chemist Chichester Bell to equip an L Street house and begin systematic testing.

The sealed Smithsonian vault By 1881, the team successfully replaces tinfoil with wax applied to an iron cylinder, reproducing sound using a high-pressure air jet. They seal a working model in a box at the Smithsonian, leaving instructions that it remain locked until two of the three inventors consent.

Explorations in sound media The associates experiment with various media, including a paper-tape recorder coated in beeswax and paraffin, magnetic ink pens, and liquid jets. They test both vertical "hill-and-dale" and lateral "zig-zag" grooves to determine which method cuts into wax without tearing.

Patents and factory production In May 1886, the team secures foundational patents for engraving sound into solid wax. They form companies to handle patent licensing and set up manufacturing in Bridgeport, Connecticut, forcing Edison to license their technology for his subsequent phonograph models.

The People

• Alexander Graham Bell: The famous inventor of the telephone and financier of the Volta Laboratory. Wanting to venture into new research fields after his early successes, he provides the overarching ideas, funding, and direction for the project while allowing his associates to earn credit for specific inventions.
• Charles Sumner Tainter: A skilled young instrument maker from Cambridge, Massachusetts, who acts as the primary builder, experimenter, and chronicler of the laboratory. He sets up the Washington workshop, constructs the experimental models, documents their progress in extensive notebooks, and later manages the Bridgeport manufacturing plant.
• Chichester Bell: A college chemistry teacher from London and cousin to Alexander Graham Bell. He joins the Volta group as its third key associate, applying his chemical background to materials and co-inventing the fundamental wax-engraving patent process.
• Thomas A. Edison: The famed "wizard" inventor whose 1877 tinfoil phonograph starts the field. Though his initial breakthrough captures the public's imagination, his failure to refine its fragile medium leaves room for the Volta team to improve upon his work.

In Its Own Voice

"We were like the explorers in an entirely unknown land, where one has to select the path that seems to be most likely to get you to your destination, with no knowledge of what is ahead."

Charles Sumner Tainter records in his unpublished autobiography the uncertain, ground-up nature of their early Washington laboratory work.

"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamed of in your philosophy. I am a graphophone and my mother was a phonograph."

This classic line was spoken onto the wax cylinder sealed inside the Smithsonian Institution vault in 1881 and revealed when opened in 1937.

"The phonograph cylinder E, was rotated while words and sounds were shouted to the support to which the water jet was attached, and a record that was quite visible to the unaided eye was the result."

Tainter details a May 1883 entry in his laboratory notebook, illustrating their unusual experiments using fluid jets to capture sound vibrations.

What It's Really About

This historical account addresses the practical realities of technological innovation. It contrasts initial inventive sparks with the slow work required to turn a novelty into a reliable product. Edison achieved fame for the initial discovery of sound recording, but his original machine was too delicate for daily use.

The text highlights how methodical trial-and-error, careful material selection, and deliberate patent strategy transform a theoretical concept into an industrial standard. By switching from indenting soft foil to cutting solid wax, the Volta group established the core mechanical principles that made recorded sound commercially viable.

Why Read It Today

This text appeals to readers interested in the history of technology, nineteenth-century invention, and institutional archives. It offers a clear look inside the practical mechanics of historic engineering, drawing directly from museum artifacts, patent drawings, and private laboratory notebooks.

The reading experience is factual, clear, and grounded in primary sources. Rather than relying on romanticized inventor lore, the paper presents daily laboratory life through direct quotes: searching major cities for unusual raw materials, setting up lathes in rented rooms, and laboriously testing paraffin mixtures.

What stays with the reader is the team's willingness to experiment with unconventional ideas—such as magnetic inks, paper-tape strips, and compressed air jets—before settling on the wax cylinder. It provides a rare look at how incremental bench experiments shaped the modern recording industry.