The Life of Eldridge Reeves Johnson
Although most people today do not know the name Eldridge Reeves Johnson, he created a company that helped revolutionize the way Americans listened to music.
Eldridge Reeves Johnson was born in Wilmington, Delaware in 1867. Although he wanted to go to college, a childhood teacher discouraged him by telling him to learn a trade, suggesting that he was too dumb to go to college. He soon became an apprentice at a machine repair shop in Philadelphia. In 1886, Johnson took a position at a machine shop in Camden, New Jersey, where he developed a stitching machine for book-binding. By 1894, he had purchased the machine shop and changed the name to Eldridge R. Johnson Manufacturing Company.
In 1896, he was approached to look at a machine developed by Emile Berliner, a Philadelphia inventor. Berliner had developed a gramophone, a hand-cranked device that played sound. Its problem was that it didn’t run evenly, and the sound became distorted. Johnson developed and patented a spring motor that enabled the sound to be played smoothly and evenly, functioned quietly, and was affordable. Suddenly, the gramophone was a commercially viable product.
With this “talking machine,” Johnson would become president of the Victor Talking Machine Company, and would go on to sell thousands of machines a year. The market grew significantly in the early years, in part due to a creative advertising campaign. Johnson arranged to have music and opera stars endorse his products. The Victor logo, which was unique enough to still be recognized today, features a dog listening to a phonograph, to hear “His Master’s Voice.” Johnson didn’t just invent a device; he changed the way Americans listen to music, and he made music accessible and affordable to the masses.
Throughout the years, Johnson would continue to improve and alter the phonograph before his retirement in 1927. RCA would take over the company in 1929. Johnson is also remembered as a philanthropist, giving away millions of dollars to groups in New Jersey and Philadelphia. His gifts went to community centers, libraries, a park, the Franklin Institute, and the University of Pennsylvania, where the Eldridge Reeves Johnson Foundation was started in 1929 and continues to conduct research in the biochemical and biophysical aspects of biology and medicine. ll
Eldridge Reeves Johnson was born in Wilmington, Delaware in 1867. Although he wanted to go to college, a childhood teacher discouraged him by telling him to learn a trade, suggesting that he was too dumb to go to college. He soon became an apprentice at a machine repair shop in Philadelphia. In 1886, Johnson took a position at a machine shop in Camden, New Jersey, where he developed a stitching machine for book-binding. By 1894, he had purchased the machine shop and changed the name to Eldridge R. Johnson Manufacturing Company.
In 1896, he was approached to look at a machine developed by Emile Berliner, a Philadelphia inventor. Berliner had developed a gramophone, a hand-cranked device that played sound. Its problem was that it didn’t run evenly, and the sound became distorted. Johnson developed and patented a spring motor that enabled the sound to be played smoothly and evenly, functioned quietly, and was affordable. Suddenly, the gramophone was a commercially viable product.
With this “talking machine,” Johnson would become president of the Victor Talking Machine Company, and would go on to sell thousands of machines a year. The market grew significantly in the early years, in part due to a creative advertising campaign. Johnson arranged to have music and opera stars endorse his products. The Victor logo, which was unique enough to still be recognized today, features a dog listening to a phonograph, to hear “His Master’s Voice.” Johnson didn’t just invent a device; he changed the way Americans listen to music, and he made music accessible and affordable to the masses.
Throughout the years, Johnson would continue to improve and alter the phonograph before his retirement in 1927. RCA would take over the company in 1929. Johnson is also remembered as a philanthropist, giving away millions of dollars to groups in New Jersey and Philadelphia. His gifts went to community centers, libraries, a park, the Franklin Institute, and the University of Pennsylvania, where the Eldridge Reeves Johnson Foundation was started in 1929 and continues to conduct research in the biochemical and biophysical aspects of biology and medicine. ll