thatkidpeep:

Today, 133 years ago on November 21 in the year 1877, Thomas Edison announced his invention the first practical sound storage device, the mechanical “phonograph” cylinder. These had an audio recording engraved on the outside surface which could be reproduced when the cylinder was played on a phonograph. He first tested using wax paper. In early productions the recordings were cut into foil wrapped around a metal cylinder, but shortly afterwards replaced by wax cylinders as they proved much more practical.

The device began to gain popularity and, in May of 1889, San Fransisco opened the first “phonograph parlor”—this was a place where people could make a music selection, like a jukebox, that functioned using a phonograph. By 1900, almost all major US cities had a parlor and folk been cuttin’ a rug ever since!