In 1912-1913 Thomas Edison tried another use for his Concert
phonograph: talking pictures.  The Edison Kinetophone system used the
5" cylinder somewhat synchronized to the projector in the booth for
an early attempt to create talking pictures.  At first a person was
stationed at the phonograph to try to keep it in sync with the picture.
The resulting variations in pitch must have been hilarious.  One would
hope the projector was at least driven by an electric motor, but many
in that era were still hand cranked.

The next synchronizing system, if one can call it that, was a string
belt between the booth and the phonograph behind, or along side, the
screen.  Slippage and, as reports would have it, rats eating the waxed
string, put an end to the idea.  It was used commercially for a very
brief time but was quickly laughed out of the theaters.  The sound was
weak and almost never in sync with the picture.

In recent years, several of the Edison Kinetophone films and
accompanying cylinder records have been discovered and laboriously
synchronized and the result put on video.  I have several of these
video restorations and the results are amazing, considering when they
were made.

I also collect vintage motion picture equipment, and the Edison
Kinetophone would be a prized find.  The only one I know about is in
the Eastman House collection.

Jim Crank