TAE Lab, grounds and inventions

The first 15 years or so the only way to bring supplies and building materials to the Edison property was by boat.  His friends also visited him that way--presidents, writers and corporate giants.

Mina had several lovely little gardens. At one time the one above had a small alligator as an occupant.

Edison's office.  Note one of his phonograph's in the corner.

A peek into the Laboratory.  I did not take the lab tour so this was the best view I had.

Besides, the museum displayed all of his inventions--it is extensive and very interesting.  The day was getting late so I didn't get to see all of the exhibits--it would have taken hours.

He invented most of the early movie making machines and even did a few productions.  He combined sound with pictures long before it became popular but he seemed to have other interests and ultimately let others take over this industry.

At one point he wanted to learn more about preserving (or doing something new) with wood so he bought a child's furniture company to test his processes. He made cribs and high chairs for some years--who knew?

And how about cement?  He invented a process for better curing of Portland cement and ended up manufacturing cement for many years. Did I mention that he worked 20 out of every 24 hours a day?

He really dreamed of inventing a cheap source of rubber for those tires but never really found it.
But he invented the Edisonphone--the first dictaphone.  Ugh!  That brought back ugly memories.

And the inventions went on and on.  But my favorite of all is the catch-phrase that came from his most popular invention--the phonograph.  The earliest ones (shown above) did not have a volume knob so the loudness was dictated by the size of the horn.  When some neighbor complained about the noise from that 'newfangled gadget' it became a practice to remove an article of clothing and push it down into the horn to muffle the noise.  The best article for this purpose was a pair of socks.  Hence, when you want someone to 'shut up' you tell him, "Put a sock in it!" And for that you can thank Thomas Alva Edison!