Edison Tinfoil Phonograph

A replica of the machine where it all starts: the tinfoil phonograph John Kruesi built for Thomas Edison at Menlo Park, New Jersey, in December 1877. A sheet of tinfoil wrapped the grooved brass cylinder. Turn the crank and a needle fixed to a diaphragm pressed the vibrations of a voice into the foil, then traced them back out again. It was the first device that could both record sound and play it back.