The voices of the Victorian era

[krtek a houby]

Apologies for the new thread, couldn't find a suitable one for this.



Basically, it's a 35 minutes doc (no sponsorship within) about Edison capturing (and George Gouraud playing) voices from 1888-1890 on the wax cylinder format. Playback is on the phonograph and voices include:

Arthur Sullivan
Florence Nightingale
William Gladstone
Queen Victoria

It's quite astonishing to hear, even if some of them are buried under the noise.

The recording of Victoria, found in Balmoral, is unverified so it could be any posho ....

Obviously it's not entirely representative of the era, as it leaves out working class voices, but it's still fascinating to hear.

Gouraud's lab, btw, was in Upper Norwood.

 

[krtek a houby]

Another voice, this time from 1860! And played on a phonautograph.



In fairness, the "voice" sounds more like a wasp trapped in a jar, but all the same a window into the past.