Edison's Phonograph Doll

Even though it had spent several years in experimentation and development, the Edison Talking Doll was a sales failure and was only marketed for a few short weeks in early 1890. A handle had to be cranked each time for it to play. Also, the ring-shaped wax records wore out quickly and were prone to cracking and warping. Additionally, many children (and some adults) reportedly found the dolls and recordings frightening. Edison referred to the dolls as his "little monsters". • Illustration — Example of an Edison Phonograph doll, 1890. The phonograph mechanism housed in the body has been removed and is displayed alongside. In 2015, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, in collaboration with the Library of Congress, developed a three-dimensional optical scanning system called IRENE-3D, which allowed surviving discs to be scanned and the audio to be reproduced.

• Illustration — Twinkle, twinkle little star (1888) • Illustration — Hickory Dickory (1889) • Illustration — Twinkle, twinkle little star (1890) • Illustration — There was a little girl (1890) • Illustration — Twinkle, twinkle little star (1891) • Illustration — Little Jack Horner (1890) • Illustration — Now I lay me down to sleep (1890) • Illustration — Jack and Jill (1890)