Although others had tried since the 1850s to develop ways of recording and playing sound, it was Thomas Edison who invented the first working device in 1877. The phonograph, as he called it, inscribed and retrieved sonic information on foil-wrapped cardboard cylinders, which were later made from wax. Initially designed to automate telephone and telegraph messages, the phonograph gained popularity as a home entertainment player in the 1890s.
The turntable as we know it first appeared in 1888, when Emile Berliner developed a means to store audio on flat discs. He named his invention the gramophone. The first models were sold in 1894 to wide public acclaim. The discs--made originally of hard rubber, then shellac and later vinyl--could be easily mass-produced; Edison's cylinders could not. As a result, Berliner's gramophone dominated the market, and by 1929 the phonograph existed in name only.
The turntable went through many changes after World War II. 1948 saw the introduction of the long-playing record, or LP, which through its slower rotating speed of 33 1/3 revolutions per minute (RPM), could hold more information than the 78 RPM discs in existence up to that point. The 7-inch 45 RPM disc was marketed in 1949 and featured a single tune on each side. Audiences were thrilled when stereo turntables and discs came along in 1958.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, turntables could be found virtually everywhere. Affordable models made it possible for budget-minded listeners to own them, and versions costing thousands delivered sound quality to satisfy the most discerning audiophile. Portable units offered the promise of mobility, while turntables integrated into large consoles with televisions and radios became fixtures in many homes. Multidisc stacking changers provided hours of continuous play. Despite emerging technologies such as the cassette, the turntable remained the centerpiece of most audio systems.
The advent of the compact disc in the mid-1980s had a devastating effect on the turntable. The CD player quickly replaced the turntable as the medium of choice. However, by that time nightclub DJs and hip-hop artists such as Grandmaster Flash had developed new uses for the turntable and transformed it into a musical instrument in its own right. In recent years the turntable has enjoyed a revitalized interest among audiophiles. Artists such as The Pretenders have released their latest recordings in both CD and LP formats.