EDISON’S TALKING DOLL GOT SILENCED BUT NOT THE HOME PHONOGRAPH
BUSINESS
BY MICHELE GUTTENBERGER
equivalent of two weeks’ salary for the average
person.
Initially Edison thought his talking doll would
bring him huge success. In the April 26, 1890
issue of Scientific America, he boasted that he
would be manufacturing 500 dolls per day and
had a doll factory staffed with 100 employees.
The men assembled the talking devices and the
factory women were assigned to dressing the
dolls.
The first talking doll was invented by Thomas
Edison in 1877. Ironically, this doll was
technically the first home phonograph when it
was released to the public in 1890. It became
the first home entertainment phonograph
because, each doll housed an internal
phonograph 7" tall, with a wax cylinder
measuring 3" in diameter containing a six
second prerecorded nursery rhyme. This was a
new marketing concept for Edison because he
never thought of the phonograph as an invention
for entertainment. He had expectations of the
phonograph becoming a valuable businesses
tool in dictating letters.
The doll may have had a dainty imported Simon
and Halbig bisque face, but the rest of the doll
resembled today’s sci-fi transformer figure with
its metal torso and wooden segmented limbs. It
was no wonder that Edison would later refer to
this doll as a “little monster”. After several plays,
the doll’s recording was scratchy and even
sounded spooky.
The doll’s voice crank located in the back of the
doll did not have a spring mechanism. A child
was expected to steadily turn the crank at an
even speed in order for the doll to audibly recite
its rhyme. But the price tag may have been more
horrific than its horrid voice. The basic price for
a simply clothed doll was $10. However, to buy
the doll complete with its 1890’s high fashion
outfit the price jumped to $25. This was the
Edison success in the doll making business
would be short lived. The returns on these dolls
were massive. One toy retailer returned 188
dolls out of their 200 doll order. The dolls could
not hold up to a child’s hard use. The dolls soon
stopped talking and started to gurgle some
inaudible unpleasant noise. The best they could
do to save this doll production from a total sales
disaster was to remove the voice device and
drastically mark down the price. It is a wonder
how many little girls found the metal body with
an empty compartment inside their dolls just a
bit peculiar.
The doll business would be noted in history as
one of Edison’s marketing failures. However,
his home phonographs business was a great
success. The doll was just a miniature prototype
of a great idea in home entertainment. It just
needed to be presented in different packaging.
Edison’s rejected talking doll can be viewed and
heard at the Edison Museum.
The Thomas Edison Museum. Open
Wednesday through Sunday. Hours are
9:00am - 5:00pm Fee is $7.00 - 211 Main
Street West Orange, NJ 07052 Visit website
for more details
http://www.nps.gov/edis/index.htm