ABSTRACT
A trade organization formed by the 33 regional affiliates of the North American Phonograph Co. A convention was held in Chicago on 28-29 May 1890, chaired by J.H. McGilvra of the Volta Graphophone Co. Edward Easton called the convention to order. R.F. Cromelin was secretary. Among the issues discussed were the poor performance of graphophones, and the need for a single standardized instrument (association members were selling both the Graphophone and the Edison phonograph); and the problem of hostility between the interests of Charles Sumner Tainter and Thomas Edison. The principal business of the regional affiliates at the time was in leasing instruments for business use. But a number of the members were also involved with musical cylinders placed on location in coin-operated machines. At the second convention, New York, June 1891, only 19 companies were represented. A.W. Clancy was elected president, and Easton, vice president. There were 22 firms represented at the third convention, held in Detroit in 1893. Clancy was reelected president. In 1894, as Edison liquidated the North American Phonograph Co., the National Phonograph Assoc. ceased to function. Then there was a new assembly, in Cincinnati on 25 Sep 1900; Henry D. Goodwin was chairman, and James L. Andem the secretary at that meeting. [Proceedings 1974.]
The firm established by Thomas Edison in Orange, New Jersey, in January 1896 to manufacture and distribute spring-driven cylinder phonographs for home use. This firm also held the relevant Edison patents. The first products were the Edison Home Phonograph, sold for $40, and the Edison Standard Phonograph, sold for $20. Manufacturing of the machines was carried out in Orange, in the Edison Phonograph Works. Concentrating on mail order sales to the rural market, the enterprise provided the first successful competition for the graphophone. By 1901 there were offices in New York (83 Chambers St.), Chicago (144 Wabash Ave.), and San Francisco (933 Market St.). A European headquarters was set up in Antwerp (it moved to London in 1904). Branch offices were established in Paris, Berlin, Brussels, Vienna, and Milan. These overseas activities were coordinated by Will Hayes. Recording began in London in May 1903, at 52 Grays Inn Road, then in new premises in the Clerkenwell Road in January 1904. The European factories had closed by 1908, but recording studios and sales agencies remained open. Machines and records were manufactured in the U.S. after 1911. Production figures for Edison cylinders show a steady increase from 1896 to 1904. For the year ending 28 Feb, the total records manufactured were: 1897 None
In 1905-1907 there were about 12,000 Edison dealers in the U.S. When Edison established Thomas A. Edison, Inc. in 1910, the National Phonograph Co. was absorbed into it, along with the Edison Phonograph Works. [APM 1-10 (December 1973): 3, gives the production figures.]
The only British firm authorized to distribute genuine Edison goods wholesale; established in London in March 1902 by J.L. Young and E. Sinclair. It was independent of the Edison business at first, but was engaged by Edison’s attorney in July 1902 to handle the Edison interests in Britain. It had its own record pressing plant, also in London. In August 1912, the company was absorbed into the new firm, Thomas A. Edison, Ltd.
