The Allen Koenigsberg Phonograph Collection
Lot 3513:
Description
The Kansas Phonograph Company, founded in 1888 by George E. Tewksbury and Simon S. Ott in Topeka, Kansas, faced a pivotal transition year in 1894. Operating as a regional subsidiary of Jesse H. Lippincott’s North American Phonograph Company, the firm held exclusive territorial rights to distribute Edison phonographs, graphophones, and early commercial audio cylinders. In February of 1894 the company issued an extensive, locally recorded brown wax cylinder catalog detailing their early commercial music and monologue recordings. In August 1894, Thomas Edison forced North American into bankruptcy to reclaim total control over his phonograph patent rights. This standard business model collapse threatened to eliminate the regional subsidiaries. Unlike many regional branches that dissolved immediately, the Kansas Phonograph Co. survived the initial breakup by continuing to sell Tewksbury’s patented, high-end coin-operated electric phonograph machines for $175. Sensing the structural collapse of North American, founders Tewksbury and Ott partnered with Victor Emerson of the New Jersey Phonograph Company. They carried a vast portion of the Kansas Phonograph Co. recording catalog over to their newly expanded venture, the United States Phonograph Company based in Newark, New Jersey. This entity quickly grew into one of the largest global record suppliers of the 1890s. This catalog from February of 1894 is in good original condition with paper loss to the binding. Measures 6″ tall, 3.5″ wide. From the Allen Koenigsberg collection.
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