Charles Sumner Tainter
Encyclopedia
Charles Sumner Tainter was an American
scientific instrument maker, engineer and inventor, best known for his collaborations with Alexander Graham Bell
, Chichester Bell
, Alexander's father-in-law Gardiner Hubbard, and for his significant improvements to Thomas Edison's phonograph
, resulting in the Graphophone
, one version of which was the first Dictaphone
.
Later in his career Tainter was associated with the International Graphopone Company of West Virginia, and also managed his own research and development laboratory, earning him the title: 'Father Of The Talking Machine' (i.e.: father of the phonograph).
, where he attended public school. His education was modest, acquiring his knowledge mostly through self-education. In 1873, he took a job with the Alvan Clark and Sons Company
producing telescopes in Cambridge, Massachusetts
, which then came under contract with the U.S. Navy to conduct observations of the transit of Venus
on December 8, 1874, resulting in Tainter being sent with one of its observation expeditions to New Zealand
. In 1878 he opened his own shop for the production of scientific instruments in Cambridgeport, Massachusetts, where he made the acquaintance of Alexander Graham Bell
. A year later Bell called Tainter to what would become his Volta Laboratory in Washington, D.C.
, where he would work for the next several years.
During this time, Tainter worked with the Bells on several inventions, amongst them the photophone
and phonograph
, which they developed into the Graphophone
, a substantial improvement of Edison's earlier device, for which Tainter received several patents along with the Bells. Edison subsequently sued the Volta Graphophone Company (of which Tainter was part owner) for patent
infringement, but the case was settled by a compromise between the two.
In 1886, he married Lila R. Munro, and over the next years worked in Washington, perfecting his graphophone and founding a company trying to market the Graphophone as a dictation machine: the first Dictaphone
. In 1887 Tainter invented the helically wound paper tube as an improved graphophone cylinder. This design was light and strong, and came to be widely used in applications far removed from its original intent, such as mailing tubes and product containers.
In 1888 he was stricken with severe pneumonia
, which would incapacitate him intermittently for the rest of his life, leading him and his wife to move to San Diego, California in 1903. After the death of his first wife in 1924, he married Laura F. Onderdonk in 1928.
Tainter received several distinguished awards for his graphophone. In 1947 Onderdonk donated his unpublished biography and ten surviving volumes (out of 13) of Tainter's Home Notebooks to the Smithsonian Institution
's National Museum of American History
; volumes 9, 10 and 13 unfortunately having been destroyed in a fire in September 1897. The daily agenda books described in detail the project work Tainter conducted at the Volta Laboratory during the 1880s.
disk), filed June 1885, issued May 1886 (with Chichester Bell) Apparatus for Recording and Reproducing Sounds (wax coated cylinder, pause and reverse mechanism), filed December 1885, issued May 1886 Paper Cylinder for Graphophonic Records (helically wound), filed April 1887, issued November 1887 Apparatus for Recording and Reproducing Speech and Other Sounds (with treadle
drive designed for dictation
), filed July 1887, issued December 1887 Graphophone (with duplicate transcription), filed December 1887, issued April 1888 Graphophone Tablet (hard "ozocerite" (carnauba wax
) cylinder coating), filed November 1887, issued February 1890 Machine for the Manufacture of Wax-coated Tablets for Graphophones (helically wound paper tubes), filed June 1889, issued May 1890
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
scientific instrument maker, engineer and inventor, best known for his collaborations with Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell was an eminent scientist, inventor, engineer and innovator who is credited with inventing the first practical telephone....
, Chichester Bell
Chichester Bell
Chichester A. Bell was a chemist, cousin to Alexander Graham Bell, and instrumental in developing improved versions of the phonograph.- Life :...
, Alexander's father-in-law Gardiner Hubbard, and for his significant improvements to Thomas Edison's phonograph
Phonograph
The phonograph record player, or gramophone is a device introduced in 1877 that has had continued common use for reproducing sound recordings, although when first developed, the phonograph was used to both record and reproduce sounds...
, resulting in the Graphophone
Graphophone
The Graphophone was the name and trademark of an improved version of the phonograph invented at the Volta Laboratory established by Alexander Graham Bell in Washington, D.C....
, one version of which was the first Dictaphone
Dictaphone
Dictaphone was an American company, a producer of dictation machines—sound recording devices most commonly used to record speech for later playback or to be typed into print. The name "Dictaphone" is a trademark, but in some places it has also become a common way to refer to all such devices, and...
.
Later in his career Tainter was associated with the International Graphopone Company of West Virginia, and also managed his own research and development laboratory, earning him the title: 'Father Of The Talking Machine' (i.e.: father of the phonograph).
Biography
Tainter was born in Watertown, MassachusettsWatertown, Massachusetts
The Town of Watertown is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 31,915 at the 2010 census.- History :Archeological evidence suggests that Watertown was inhabited for thousands of years before the arrival of settlers from England...
, where he attended public school. His education was modest, acquiring his knowledge mostly through self-education. In 1873, he took a job with the Alvan Clark and Sons Company
Alvan Clark & Sons
Alvan Clark & Sons was an American maker of optics that became famous for crafting lenses for some of the largest refracting telescopes of the 19th and early 20th centuries...
producing telescopes in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
, which then came under contract with the U.S. Navy to conduct observations of the transit of Venus
Transit of Venus
A transit of Venus across the Sun takes place when the planet Venus passes directly between the Sun and Earth, becoming visible against the solar disk. During a transit, Venus can be seen from Earth as a small black disk moving across the face of the Sun...
on December 8, 1874, resulting in Tainter being sent with one of its observation expeditions to New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. In 1878 he opened his own shop for the production of scientific instruments in Cambridgeport, Massachusetts, where he made the acquaintance of Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell was an eminent scientist, inventor, engineer and innovator who is credited with inventing the first practical telephone....
. A year later Bell called Tainter to what would become his Volta Laboratory in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, where he would work for the next several years.
During this time, Tainter worked with the Bells on several inventions, amongst them the photophone
Photophone
The photophone, also known as a radiophone, was invented jointly by Alexander Graham Bell and his then-assistant Charles Sumner Tainter on February 19, 1880, at Bell's 1325 'L' Street laboratory in Washington, D.C...
and phonograph
Phonograph
The phonograph record player, or gramophone is a device introduced in 1877 that has had continued common use for reproducing sound recordings, although when first developed, the phonograph was used to both record and reproduce sounds...
, which they developed into the Graphophone
Graphophone
The Graphophone was the name and trademark of an improved version of the phonograph invented at the Volta Laboratory established by Alexander Graham Bell in Washington, D.C....
, a substantial improvement of Edison's earlier device, for which Tainter received several patents along with the Bells. Edison subsequently sued the Volta Graphophone Company (of which Tainter was part owner) for patent
Patent
A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
infringement, but the case was settled by a compromise between the two.
In 1886, he married Lila R. Munro, and over the next years worked in Washington, perfecting his graphophone and founding a company trying to market the Graphophone as a dictation machine: the first Dictaphone
Dictaphone
Dictaphone was an American company, a producer of dictation machines—sound recording devices most commonly used to record speech for later playback or to be typed into print. The name "Dictaphone" is a trademark, but in some places it has also become a common way to refer to all such devices, and...
. In 1887 Tainter invented the helically wound paper tube as an improved graphophone cylinder. This design was light and strong, and came to be widely used in applications far removed from its original intent, such as mailing tubes and product containers.
In 1888 he was stricken with severe pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
, which would incapacitate him intermittently for the rest of his life, leading him and his wife to move to San Diego, California in 1903. After the death of his first wife in 1924, he married Laura F. Onderdonk in 1928.
Tainter received several distinguished awards for his graphophone. In 1947 Onderdonk donated his unpublished biography and ten surviving volumes (out of 13) of Tainter's Home Notebooks to the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
's National Museum of American History
National Museum of American History
The National Museum of American History: Kenneth E. Behring Center collects, preserves and displays the heritage of the United States in the areas of social, political, cultural, scientific and military history. Among the items on display are the original Star-Spangled Banner and Archie Bunker's...
; volumes 9, 10 and 13 unfortunately having been destroyed in a fire in September 1897. The daily agenda books described in detail the project work Tainter conducted at the Volta Laboratory during the 1880s.
Awards and honors
- The Electrical Exhibition in Paris awarded Tainter a gold medal for his co-invention of the photophonePhotophoneThe photophone, also known as a radiophone, was invented jointly by Alexander Graham Bell and his then-assistant Charles Sumner Tainter on February 19, 1880, at Bell's 1325 'L' Street laboratory in Washington, D.C...
the previous year (1881); - the French Government appointed him an "Officier de L Instruction Publique" for his work in the invention of the Graphaphone (1889);
- the San Francisco Exposition awarded him a gold medal for his Graphophone work (1915);
- the Panama Pacific Exposition also awarded him a gold medal for his work on the Graphophone (1915);
- the American Association for the Advancement of ScienceAmerican Association for the Advancement of ScienceThe American Association for the Advancement of Science is an international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsibility, and supporting scientific education and science outreach for the...
made Tainter an Emeritus Life Member of their institute (Pittsburgh, December 1934).
Patents
Patent images viewable in TIFF format Photophone Transmitter, filed September 1880, issued December 1880 (with Alexander Bell) Selenium Cell, filed September 1880, issued December 1880 (with Alexander Bell) Process Of Treating Selenium To Increase Its Electric Conductivity, filed August 1880, issued December 1880 (with Alexander Bell) Photophonic Receiver, filed March 1881, issued May 1881 (with Alexander Bell) Telephone Transmitter (using a "jet of conductive fluid"), filed April 1885, issued February 1886 Reproducing Sounds from Phonograph Records (without using a stylus), filed November 1885, issued May 1886 (with Alexander and Chichester Bell) Transmitting And Recording Sounds By Radiant Energy, filed November 1885, issued May 1886 (with Alexander and Chichester Bell) Recording and Reproducing Speech and Other Sounds (improvements include compliant cutting head, wax surface, and constant linear velocityConstant linear velocity
In optical storage, constant linear velocity is a qualifier for the rated speed of an optical disc drive, and may also be applied to the writing speed of recordable discs. CLV implies that the angular velocity varies during an operation, as contrasted with CAV modes...
disk), filed June 1885, issued May 1886 (with Chichester Bell) Apparatus for Recording and Reproducing Sounds (wax coated cylinder, pause and reverse mechanism), filed December 1885, issued May 1886 Paper Cylinder for Graphophonic Records (helically wound), filed April 1887, issued November 1887 Apparatus for Recording and Reproducing Speech and Other Sounds (with treadle
Treadle
A treadle [from OE tredan = to tread] is a part of a machine which is operated by the foot to produce reciprocating or rotary motion in a machine such as a weaving loom or grinder...
drive designed for dictation
Dictation
Dictation can refer to:*Dictation , when one person speaks while another person transcribes what is spoken.*A dictation machine, a device used to record speech for transcription....
), filed July 1887, issued December 1887 Graphophone (with duplicate transcription), filed December 1887, issued April 1888 Graphophone Tablet (hard "ozocerite" (carnauba wax
Carnauba wax
Carnauba , also called Brazil wax and palm wax, is a wax of the leaves of the palm Copernicia prunifera, a plant native to and grown only in the northeastern Brazilian states of Piauí, Ceará, and Rio Grande do Norte. It is known as "queen of waxes" and usually comes in the form of hard yellow-brown...
) cylinder coating), filed November 1887, issued February 1890 Machine for the Manufacture of Wax-coated Tablets for Graphophones (helically wound paper tubes), filed June 1889, issued May 1890
See also
- Alvan Clark & SonsAlvan Clark & SonsAlvan Clark & Sons was an American maker of optics that became famous for crafting lenses for some of the largest refracting telescopes of the 19th and early 20th centuries...
, instrument makers - PhonographPhonographThe phonograph record player, or gramophone is a device introduced in 1877 that has had continued common use for reproducing sound recordings, although when first developed, the phonograph was used to both record and reproduce sounds...
- PhotophonePhotophoneThe photophone, also known as a radiophone, was invented jointly by Alexander Graham Bell and his then-assistant Charles Sumner Tainter on February 19, 1880, at Bell's 1325 'L' Street laboratory in Washington, D.C...
- Volta Laboratory and Bureau, Alexander Graham Bell's research laboratory in Washington, D.C.
Further reading
- Frow, George L. & Sefl, Albert F. "The Edison Cylinder Phonographs 1877 - 1929", Kent, Great Britain: Flo-Print, 1978.
- Juttlemann, Herbert. "Phonographen und Grammaphone", Braunschweig, Germany: Klinkhardt and Biermann, 1979.
- Marty, Daniel. "The Illustrated History of Phonographs", translation by Douglas Tubbs, VILO Inc., New York,1981.
- Proudfoot, Christopher. "Collecting Phonographs and Gramaphones", Christie's International Collectors Series, Mayflower Books, New York, 1980.
- The National Phonograph Company. "The Phonograph and How to Use It", Allen Koenigsberg, New York,1971 (c. 1900).
External links
- Charles Tainter and the Graphophone
- Plaque in Washington D.C. marking the successful Bell/Tainter photophone experiment