Edison's Talking Doll
In 1890 Thomas Edison sold talking dolls with tiny phonographs inside. Their voices, recovered in 2015, sound hauntingly eerie.
What was reported
In 1890 Thomas Edison's company sold a doll with a miniature phonograph in its chest, which recited nursery rhymes like 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star', recorded by young women at his laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey. They were expensive and fragile, and the product was withdrawn within weeks.
For more than a century the tiny wax cylinders couldn't be played safely. In 2015 researchers used optical scanning to recover the recordings, and the scratchy, high-pitched voices were widely described as creepy.
Explanations offered
They're among the earliest recordings made for entertainment, and among the first recordings of women's voices. Their eeriness comes from the age and wear of the cylinders and the uncanny idea of a talking doll. They're kept at the Thomas Edison National Historical Park.
- When
- Sold in 1890
- Where
- West Orange, New Jersey, USA
- Witnesses
- Customers in 1890, and listeners in 2015
- Status
- Explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.