⭕ Up For sale - Antique Thomas Edison Kinetophone, S/N K132, Patent numbers:

May 31, 1898
July 18, 1911
July 2, 1912
Aug 20, 1912.


Not sure if all the parts are here. The gears rotate but not a full 360 degrees - I dont want to force it. It weighs about 16 1/2 lbs. The side plate reads,
Edison Synchronizer. The patented kinetophone of which this synchronizer forms a part, and every part thereof, is the property of Thomas A. Edison, Inc. and is leased subject to restrictions as to its use. Any breach of said restrictions terminates said lease and gives the lessor the right to immediate possession of the leased apparatus, this synchronizer. Is leased upon the condition that it is licensed to be used only so long as this plate or the above serial number is not removed, defaced of altered.


Heres more information about the Edison Kinetophone from the web.

From the inception of motion pictures, various inventors attempted to unite sight and sound through talking motion pictures. The Edison Company is known to have experimented with this as early as the fall of 1894 under the supervision of W. K. L. Dickson with a film known today as [Dickson Experimental Sound Film]. The film shows a man, who may possibly be Dickson, playing violin before a phonograph horn as two men dance.

By the spring of 1895, Edison was offering Kinetophones--Kinetoscopes with phonographs inside their cabinets. The viewer would look into the peep-holes of the Kinetoscope to watch the motion picture while listening to the accompanying phonograph through two rubber ear tubes connected to the machine (the kinetophone). The picture and sound were made somewhat synchronous by connecting the two with a belt. Although the initial novelty of the machine drew attention, the decline of the Kinetoscope business and Dicksons departure from Edison ended any further work on the Kinetophone for 18 years.

In 1913, a different version of the Kinetophone was introduced to the public. This time, the sound was made to synchronize with a motion picture projected onto a screen. A celluloid cylinder record measuring 5 1/2 in diameter was used for the phonograph. Synchronization was achieved by connecting the projector at one end of the theater and the phonograph at the other end with a long pulley.

Nineteen talking pictures were produced in 1913 by Edison, but by 1915 he had abandoned sound motion pictures. There were several reasons for this. First, union rules stipulated that local union projectionists had to operate the Kinetophones, even though they hadnt been trained properly in its use. This led to many instances where synchronization was not achieved, causing audience dissatisfaction. The method of synchronization used was still less than perfect, and breaks in the film would cause the motion picture to get out of step with the phonograph record. The dissolution of the Motion Picture Patents Corp. in 1915 may also have contributed to Edisons departure from sound films, since this act deprived him of patent protection for his motion picture inventions.