The morning news., 1888-11-29
DOLLS THAT REALLY TALK.
some Very Wonderful Toys for Nice
Little Girls.

draaued of bv them, even on Christmas
e1e In MIR. Edison's laboratory at Orange,
\ J.. there are numbers of dolls which
sneak as naturally as any human being.
Thev are not like the old mechanical toys,
1vhich bv ones pressing their diaphragm,
soneak forth Mamma" and Papa" but
thew talk naturally and well, and repeat
long sentences.
Tbev are called the Edison talking dolls.
although Mr.. Edison coined a new name
for them yesterday in speaking of them.
He called them "Dollphones." The talking
dolls have engaged the inventors attention
off and on for the last two years, but it is
only within a few weeks that they have
been perfected. Now nothing remains but
to manufacture them in large quantities,
and ship them to all civilized countries, SO
that at the proper time, children, not only
in America, but also in Europe, and even
in far off Russia, viii be able
owners native language can talk
to them. Outside of Mr.. Edison's assist
ants. workmen and officers of his company,
no one except the writer has yet had the
privilege of looking at and listening to this
latest application of the phonograph. Mr..
Edison kindly consented. yesterday to ex-
plain to the reporter all about the dolls and
10 give him an opportunity to examine
them and to test their capabilities. By
February, however, they will be on sale all
over the world, and at the exceedingly
moderate price of from So to 81 each, or
not much more than the value of the doll
alone without the speaking attachment.
In a little room in the second story of the
great laboratory at Orange were dozen or
so Of the dolls yesterday in various stages
of manufacture. Some of them were
dressed and ready to entertain company,
while others, while they could speak, did SO,
strange to say, without tue use of their
neads. Mr.. Edison picked up one of the
dolls, whose golden curly hair and pink
cheeks were lovely in their perfection, and
whose light blue eyes stared in mild sur
prise at the reporter, and, winding her up
by inserting a clock key in the small of her
back, handed her 10 the reporter. He then
pressed a spring, and the doll, still looking
at the reporter, said in plaintive tone: II
love you, mamma; L love, you dearly,
mamma, but | am tired and sleepy now.
Please put me in my littls bed"
The doll continued to stare with the
widest of wide open eyes at the reporter
while asserting the fact that she was sleepy,
but the distinctnesS with which she said it,
and the guileless expression of her pretty
face convinced him that she was telling the
truth, so he laid her gently down ON the
bic near by. Then Mr. Edison wound up
brunette doll, with jet black curls and
sparkling brown eyes. This doll started off
at brisk rate with the following:
Twinkle twinkle, little star.
How wonder what you are,
UD above the world so high,
Like diamond in the sky.
and she recited it with feeling and express
sion. Another of the dolls informed the
reporter that Jack aud Jill meandered up
gentle ACTIVITY for the purpose Of procuring
a temperance drink, and while there Jack
met with an accident and fell, and jill
enthusiastically followed his example. She
4.l %I.% a,Is ell, IL
was fractured, but did not say how badly
jill was injured, if at ALL
Another doll baby. who was musically in
clined, sang in a sweet childish treble
"Rock-a-by baby on tho tree-top" all the
way through with good expression, and
without a false note. She sang it quite
loudly, too, so that any one could have
heard her across a nloderate-sized room.
Still another sang pretty little German
song, but as the reporter did not understand
German, he is unable to tell what the song
was about.
Il have only lately succeeded in bringing
this toy to state of perfection" said the
inventor, as he lovingly stroked the curly
pate of one of his little takers. But now
all that remains is to manufacture sufficient
Of them to enable my company to place
large enough quantity upon the market 10
meet the demand which we are assured
there will be for them. The moderate prices
at Uhich they viii be sold, considering their
accomplishments, win surely make them
popular, and the little girl who hereafter
has an old-fashIoned dumb doll will be
an object of pity to her more fortunate
compa ions whose dolls can talk and
sing and laugh and cry. aud, in fact,
make any sound that IA real living child
could. The little phonograph which, with
lis accompanying clockwOrll, is placed IN
each of the TOYS, is the perfection of deli
hon ht1tp fbA flYNla IL IN
strongly made and so durable that it will
last as long, if not longer, than the doll
itself. The cylinder which receives phono-
graphic impression is made of tin, and is
consequently very durable. With ordina-
rily careful handling it will repeat SEN
tence thousands of times, and the last repe-
tltlOn will be as perfect as the first. The
main difficulty has been in inventing
machinery to make the doll photograph so
exact in its working that the cylinders may
be interchangeable, and new cylinders
with new sentences be substituted for
the old ones at any time. So
if child should get tired of hearing its
doll repeating over and over again the same
sentence, for a trifling sum, probably less
than 81 we can supply new cylinder with
any sentence, and in any voice that the
purchaser may desire AS soon as the dolls
a o put upon sale we will open places in
New York city and in every principal city
III the country, where the COILS may De pur-
CHASED and the buyer may order what he
wants them to say. Indeed, he may, if he
wishes, talk to the phonograph himself, and
the sentence will be repeated in his voice,
and with his expression. 1t will be better,
however, for a man purchasing talking
doll to have his talking to the phonograph
done for him by girl. We have some of
the dolls here with mems voices, and they
are not glowing success"
Here Mr.. Edison wound up sweet little
creature as an illustration of his last re-
mark. In hoarse, husky, deep tone the
doll growled out these words: "Oh, dear
mamma, your dollie is tired now; put me In
my little bed, dear mamma" The effect
was more amusing and instructive than
natural.
That doll" said Mr.. Edison, has not, as
you may suppose, a bad case Of diphtheria,
but the gentleman who talked to her phono-
graph most certainly had cold. Never
theless, he asserted with great vehemence.
when he heard the photograph repeat the
words, that it was not his voice at all. The
truth is, that man never knows just what
he looks like until he sees his own photo
graph, and he never knows just what hrs
voice sounds like until phonograph huris
II back at him."
To illustrate this, Mr.. Edison permitted
the EUeniIig Sun man to talk to cne OF the
doll Photographs. To thoroughly test 1t,
tae reporter repeated this simple sentence;
Eliminate space, which is ascription OF
perfect mathematical reason for co-exlst-