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“… The New Method of Speech-Making”
"Stop it, John, stop it! That won't do now--that's a rank record."
In
1908, for the first time in history, Americans could listen to the
recorded voices of the presidential candidates, Republican William
Howard Taft and Democrat William Jennings Bryan. In this cartoon,
Bryan reacts in horror to his own statements for
"government ownership," "initiative and referendum," and
"any old ism"; his criticisms of previous Democratic nominees,
President Grover Cleveland and Alton Parker; and his contradictory
comments for and against imperialism. Bryan bellows to his
vice-presidential running mate, John Kern, who is turning the
gramophone, to stop the infernal racket. Between them the dog of
"hard times" wails, while on the shelf (upper-left) a bust of
Andrew Jackson, on a base inscribed "Thomas Jefferson," casts
a distressed glance at the party's current standard-bearer.In 1855,
Leon Scott invented the first device that successfully recorded
sound. Although his machine could not play the sounds back, it was
marketed beginning in 1859 for use in scientifically analyzing sound,
and was an important building block for later developments. In
1877, Thomas Edison drew up plans for a "tinfoil phonograph"
from which a prototype was built by his laboratory engineer, John Kruesi.
Unlike Scott's machine, the phonograph not only recorded, but also
played back sounds. It was first tested successfully with a
recording of Edison reciting "Mary Had a Little Lamb." The
Scientific American reported that "Speech has become ...
immortal."
In January 1878, the Edison Speaking Phonograph Company was
established, and Edison refined the product over the next few
months. The phonograph caused a sensation at public
demonstrations, but interest soon waned, and Edison focused his
attention on developing the electric light bulb. In 1887, under
the direction of Alexander Graham Bell, Chichester Bell (a cousin) and
Charles Tainter developed the "graphophone," which improved
sound quality and allowed longer recordings. In the late 1880s,
Edison resumed tinkering with the phonograph, making improvements and
developing an office dictation machine.
In the 1890s, musicians began recording songs on multiple phonographs
again and again to produce enough to meet demand. Then, customers
would put a nickel in slot machines at drug stores, cafes, or special
"phonograph parlors," allowing them to listen to their
favorite tune for two minutes. The musical recordings were soon
accompanied by brief advertisements. In 1893, Emile Berliner
introduced the "gramophone," which replaced the phonograph's
cylinder with hard-rubber discs, making manufacture more efficient and
less expensive. Berliner was not able to market the gramophone
effectively until he got adequate financial backing in 1896.
The early recordings were of
local musicians because established artists looked down their noses at
the notion. In 1901, Berliner's Gramophone Company recorded four
singers from the Russian Imperial Opera, which helped convince Enrico
Caruso, the acclaimed tenor, to record his voice. Over the next
two decades, Caruso sold $2 million worth of his operatic records, and his
success attracted other recognized and aspiring singers into the
recording studio.
In 1908, for the first time in
American history, both major party candidates stumped for votes across
the country throughout the campaign. For those who could not
attend the partisan rallies, or for those who wanted a repeat
performance, Bryan and Taft recorded a few of their campaign speeches,
including Bryan's "An Ideal Republic" and Taft's "Our
Army and Navy." Enterprising phonograph retailers drew in
customers by staging debates in their stores between mannequins of Taft
and Bryan with their dueling recorded appeals to the voters. Still
somewhat of a novelty in 1908, recordings of the presidential candidates
became more widespread and important in the election of 1912.
Robert C. Kennedy
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