Traveling phonographs, 1888–1900

Abstract

This chapter discusses the arrival of Edison’s Perfected Phonograph (introduced in 1888) in Spain. Thanks to the improvements in the technology, numerous Spanish funfair impresarios and entertainers acquired devices that they exhibited and demonstrated in front of audiences. The chapter discusses three main issues: firstly, the travels of phonograph demonstrators throughout Spain and how these were informed by and in turn informed discourses about technology, mobility, and modernization; second, the types of sociability spaces in which phonographs were exhibited and how these reveal the different ways in which different social classes engaged with science; and finally, the formats that phonograph demonstrations adopted, which emphasized the phonograph’s capabilities of reproducing sounds familiar to the audience.