CONTENTSForeword ix

Introduction xv

1 The Education of an Innovator 1

2 The Invention Factory 19

3 The Tinfoil Phonograph 33

4 A Big Bonanza: Edison’s Electric

Lighting System 47

5 From Menlo Park to

West Orange 69

6 A Phonograph in Every Home 97

7 Motion Pictures 121

8 Ore Milling 151

9 Portland Cement 167

10 Storage Battery 181

11 Edison in World War I 191

12 Rubber 205

13 Remembering the Wizard 217

Notes 234

Resources 235

Acknowledgments 239

Photo Credits 240

Index 241

FOREWORD

AS A MEASURE OF HOW Thomas Edison changed the world, consider this: When he

was born in 1847, there were no industrial research laboratories, no phonographs, no

motion picture cameras, and no electric power systems, let alone practical electric

lights. In 1931, the year Edison died, the United States produced 320 million lightbulbs

and consumed 110.4 million kilowatt-hours of electricity. Seventy-five million Americans

attended the movies each week, spending $719 million ($10.6 billion today) at the box office.1

In the year of Edison’s death, the New York Times estimated the value of the industries

based on his inventions at more than $15 billion. His inventions made the modern age pos-

sible. Without improved telegraph, telephone, and electric power systems and the ability to

record, store, and transmit sound and images, there would be no Internet or computers.

From the 1870s through the 1920s, Edison’s laboratories combined knowledge, resources,

and talented collaborators to turn ideas into commercial products. His laboratory workers

invented the phonograph, a practical incandescent electric lighting system, and the motion

picture camera. They also developed the nickel-iron storage battery, machinery for process-

ing iron ore and manufacturing Portland cement, and a system for constructing molded

cement houses. In his last experimental project, Edison created a process for extracting rub-

ber from goldenrod, a flowering plant considered by most to be a weed.

Over the course of his long career, Edison organized and managed dozens of manu-

facturing and marketing companies. In the process of adopting new production and

sales strategies, he helped create a mass consumer market in the late nineteenth and early

O P P O S I T E : Ed i s o n i n 19 0 4 .

ix

twentieth centuries. Edison was also one of the

first business leaders to brand himself, paving

the way for Walt Disney, Steve Jobs, and other

modern entrepreneurs.

Foreshadowing closer government-business

relations in the twentieth century, Edison was

a vocal proponent of military and industrial

preparedness during the First World War. He

also conducted research for the U.S. Navy dur-

ing the war and served as president of the Naval

Consulting Board, a group of civilian technical

experts established to advise the navy on ideas

for inventions.

Edison helped change the way technolo-

gies were developed. Benefiting from advances

in science and the multidisciplinary labors of

chemists, engineers, mathematicians, and other

trained professionals, Edison’s laboratories intro-

duced new products on a regular basis. Invention

shifted from talented individuals working alone

to organized groups working in laboratories

established specifically for industrial research

and development.

A century before the modern globaliza-

tion of the world’s economy, Edison operated on an international scale. He manufactured

and marketed his inventions in Europe, North and South America, and Asia. He relied

on globally sourced raw materials and skilled workers. Ideas and concepts generated by an

international community of scientists and researchers influenced his work, and, in turn, a

global public eagerly awaited his “latest invention.”

Edison’s experience as an innovator is as relevant today as it was one hundred years ago.

Edison devoted considerable attention to the questions all innovators face in modern times:

x Foreword

Ed i s o n ’s M e n l o P a r k a n d We s t O r a n g e l a b s c r e a te d n ew

i n d u s t r i e s , i n c l u d i n g e l e c t r i c l i g h t i n g a n d p owe r, s o u n d

r e co r d i n g , a n d m ot i o n p i c t u r e s . T h o m a s A . Ed i s o n , I n c . ,

p r o m ote d t h i s e co n o m i c l e g a c y i n t h e 19 4 0 s a n d 19 5 0 s .

48 Edison and the Rise of Innovation

IN THE FALL OF 1878, the Menlo Park laboratory began tackling a problem that inventors

had unsuccessfully addressed since the 1840s: the development of a practical incandes-

cent electric light. Edison and his team not only invented an incandescent lamp; they also

designed a system for producing and distributing electric light and power and created compa-

nies to manufacture and market this system in the United States and other countries. These

early Edison electric light companies were the basis of the modern electric power industry.

British scientist Humphry Davy discovered the principle of arc and incandescent light-

ing in the early 1800s when he found that certain materials, when heated to incandescence

by electricity, emitted light. He also demonstrated that electricity flowing through a circuit

connected to two carbon rods separated by a gap produced a bright light.

Russian engineer Paul Jablochkoff introduced the first practical arc lighting system in

the late 1870s. The harsh arc lights, however, were more suitable for outdoor and large indoor

PAG E S 4 6 –47: Ed i s o n M a zd a i n c a n d e s ce n t l i g h t b u l b i n m e We s t O r a n g e l a b s to c k r o o m . G e n e r a l E l e c t r i c , t h e s u cce s s o r to Ed i s o n ’s

e l e c t r i c l i g h t m a n u f a c t u r i n g co m p a n i e s , b e g a n m a k i n g b u l b s u n d e r t h e M a zd a t r a d e m a r k i n 19 0 9. I n 1 8 0 9 B r i t i s h c h e m i s t H u m p h r y

D av y i nve n te d t h e f i r s t e l e c t r i c a r c l i g h t . S i x ye a r s l a te r h e i n t r o d u ce d a s a f e o p e n -f l a m e l a m p f o r co a l m i n e r s .

A Big Bonanza 49

spaces. This limitation encouraged inventors to “subdivide” the electric light by designing

smaller, less bright lamps for interior residential and commercial spaces.

Edison was aware of the problem. In September 1877 he brought a strip of carbonized

paper to incandescence, but exposure to air quickly oxidized and burned the carbon. To pre-

vent oxidation, Edison attempted to place the carbon in a vacuum, but he lacked an efficient

vacuum pump and dropped the experiment.

On September 9, 1878, Edison traveled to Ansonia, Connecticut, with Charles Batchelor,

University of Pennsylvania professor George Barker, and a newspaper reporter to visit William

Wallace’s brass factory. Earlier that summer, on a trip to the western United States, Edison

and Barker had had long conversations about harnessing waterfalls to generate electricity and

transmitting the power over long distances to operate mines. Barker had encouraged Edison

to visit Ansonia to see Wallace’s arc lighting system and new generator.

According to the New York Mail, Edison was excited by Wallace’s system. He “ran from

the instruments to the lights and from the lights back to the instrument. He sprawled all over

a table with the simplicity of a child, and made all kinds of calculations.” Edison returned

to Menlo Park convinced that he could solve the problem of “subdividing” the electric light.

Edison’s solution was a regulator that would prevent a lamp’s element from melting or

burning by momentarily cutting off the electric current before the element overheated. He

envisioned electric lamps wired in a parallel circuit instead of in series, which would enable

regulators to control their own lamps and allow consumers to turn off individual lamps with-

out shutting down the entire system.

On September 13, Edison included these ideas in a patent caveat and telegraphed to

Wallace: “I have struck a big bonanza.” Batchelor wrote to a coworker, “We have struck a big

thing on Electric Light & I think we have solved the problem of the subdivision of it so that

we can make as many lights of small power as we like.” Edison told the New York Sun, “I have

it now. When it is known how I have accomplished my object, everybody will wonder why

they have never thought of it, it is so simple.”

Edison predicted that his electric light would provide illumination at a lower cost than gas

lighting. His system would supply businesses and residences with light and power generated

at a central location. He envisioned lighting large sections of lower Manhattan. “The same

wires that bring the light to you will also bring power and heat. With the power you can run

A Big Bonanza 53

BATCHELOR’S LONG-BURNING CARBONIZED FILAMENT was the breakthrough Edison

needed to complete a practical incandescent electric lamp, but it was not the end of research,

as experimenters at Menlo Park continued to work on improving the lamp and other system

components. On December 21, 1879, the New York Herald published the first account of the

carbon lamp. During the last week of December, hundreds of visitors came to Menlo Park

to see a light display that Edison had constructed at the laboratory. The railroad added extra

trains to the schedule to accommodate the crowds. According to the Herald, “The laboratory

was brilliantly illuminated with twenty-five electric lamps, the office and counting room with

eight, and twenty others were distributed in the street leading to the depot and in some of the

adjoining houses.”

Ed i s o n ’s l a b n ote b o o k s of f e r w i n d ow s i n to t h e c r e a t i ve p r o ce s s . O n t h e s e p a g e s , Ed i s o n a n d B a tc h e l o r co l l a b o r a te o n t h e d e s i g n of

l a m p f i l a m e n t s .

Ad s f o r Ed i s o n p h o n o g r a p h s a n d r e co r d s . U n l i ke r e co r d l a b e l s o f to d ay,

Ed i s o n a n d h i s s o u n d-r e co r d i n g co m p e t i to r s i n t h e e a r l y t we n t i e t h ce n t u r y

p r o d u ce d b ot h r e co r d s a n d r e co r d p l aye r s .

From Menlo Park to West Orange 77

Diversifying the products of his labora-

tory allowed Edison to apply ideas and con-

cepts from one invention to another, which

also helped to minimize marketing risks. If

one Edison product did not succeed in the

market, there were other products to sup-

port research and manufacturing operations.

The Edison Manufacturing Co.—a firm

that Edison organized in December 1889

to produce phonograph batteries and tele-

phone and telegraph systems—pursued this

strategy in the 1890s, when it began mak-

ing a number of Edison products, including

fan motors, motion picture equipment, and

medical devices.

In August 1887, Edison outlined this

innovation strategy in letters to two potential

investors: William Lloyd Garrison Jr., a Bos-

ton wool merchant, and James Hood Wright,

a partner in the banking firm of Drexel,

Morgan & Co. The West Orange labora-

tory, Edison explained to Garrison, “will be

equipped with every modern appliance for

cheap and rapid experimenting, and I expect

to turn out a vast number of useful inven-

tions and appliances in industry.” Further, he

TO P : A s wo r ke r s co n s t r u c te d t h e We s t O r a n g e l a b, Ed i s o n d r ew

a r o u g h f l o o r p l a n i n a n 1 8 8 7 n ote b o o k . H e r e s e r ve d s p a ce f o r a

g l a s s b l owe r, a j ewe l e r, a n d t wo of h i s p r i n c i p a l e x p e r i m e n te r s ,

Ch a r l e s B a tc h e l o r a n d J o h n O t t . H e l a te r m ove d t h e c h e m i s t r y

l a b to i t s ow n b u i l d i n g . R I G H T: E l e c t r i c f a n p r o d u ce d by t h e

Ed i s o n M a n u f a c t u r i n g Co. i n t h e 1 8 9 0 s .

edis

on

LEONARD DeGRAAF

and the rise of innovationLEONARD DeGRAAF

The light bulb over the cartoon character’s head—the universal symbol for a great idea—is inspired by Thomas Edison’s most notable achievement, but he did much more than bring incandescent light into every household and

industry. By combining his technical genius with well-equipped labs, skilled workers, and a knack for self-promotion, Edison created a world-renowned brand and revolutionized the way we develop new technologies. Drawing on the voluminous papers, historic photographs, and museum artifacts at Thomas Edison National Historical Park, the Henry Ford Museum, the Edison & Ford Winter Estates, and other historic sites, park archivist Leonard DeGraaf offers a fresh look at Edison’s long career, from his formative years as a telegraph inventor in the early 1870s to his extraordinarily productive years at his West Orange laboratory. Exhibiting rare and never-before-seen color photographs, advertisements, and laboratory notebook excerpts, this lush volume reveals the iconic inventor and entrepreneur as never before.

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leonard degraaf is an archivist at Thomas Edison National Historical Park. Before joining the National Park Service in 1991, he was on the staff of the Thomas A. Edison Papers. DeGraaf is the author of Historic Photos of Thomas Edison (Turner Publishing, 2008), and his articles have appeared in the New York Daily News, Seaport magazine, and Business History Review, among other publications. He received an MA in history from Rutgers University.

This book was produced in collaboration with the Edison Innovation Foundation, the Charles Edison Fund, and Thomas Edison National Historical Park. The Edison Innovation Foundation is a nonprofit organization that supports the Edison legacy and encourages students to embrace careers in science, technology, and engineering. A partner of the National Park Service, the Foundation raises funds to support Thomas Edison National Historical Park. The Charles Edison Fund, based in Newark, NJ, is an endowed philanthropic institution dedicated to the support of medical research, science education, and historic preservation.

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