Linguaphone Phonograph
Object Details
- Date
- early 20th-mid 20th Century
- Medium
- leather metal cloth velvet
- Dimensions
- closed: 7 x 13 x 15 1/2 in.
- closed with handcrank: 7 x 13 x 18 in.
- open: 19 x 13 x 15 1/2 in.
- Cite As
- Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution
- Caption
- Dr. Lorenzo Dow Turner, a linguist, bought this hand-cranked phonograph and a set of phonograph records and illustrated textbooks to learn the Portuguese language before traveling to Brazil in 1940-41. Ironically, the course taught Portuguese from Portugal, and Dr. Turner found upon arrival in Rio de Janeiro that he had to hire a local teacher to understand Brazilian Portuguese.
- Linguaphone is the proprietary name of a language-learning program that sold the phonograph, along with records and textbooks. The Linguaphone Institute was founded in London in 1901, the first language training company to recognize the value of combining written lessons with sound recordings, recorded intially on wax cylinders, and later on phonograph records. The Portuguese language course purchased by Dr. Turner included 15 10-inch phonograph records, an illustrated textbook, and a supplementary booklet, none of which have been preserved.
- Accession Number
- 2003.0032.0377
- Type
- phonograph
- See more items in
- Anacostia Community Museum Collection
- Data Source
- Anacostia Community Museum
- Restrictions & Rights
- CC0
- Record ID
- acm_2003.0032.0377