U. S. Phonograph Company

This American company produced cylinder records from 1909-1913. Record products included U.S. Everlasting Record and Lakeside (4) popular cylinders, as well as educational cylinders in the "Medicophone", "Cortina Language" and "Singaphone" series. Successor to the Cleveland Phonograph Company, U. S. Phonograph was the last American cylinder maker to enter the market. They manufactured molded celluloid cylinders under Varian Harris' U.S. patent #854,886, which used a process that was different from that used by Edison. Several former Edison employees were hired to produce cylinders for the new company, including recording engineer Charles Hibbard and Albert Benzler, a pioneer studio musician who served as musical director. U. S. Phonograph operated its own recording studio in New York and had its own pressing plant in Cleveland, OH. Initially, the company concentrated its sales efforts in the Midwest, but opened a New York store in 1911. This quickly attracted Edison's attention, who resorted to espionage and harassment in an unsuccessful attempt to deter his new competitor. Nevertheless, the repeated lawsuits brought by Edison took a toll on U. S. Phonograph, which was forced to restructure in summer 1912. In May 1913, the Edison lawsuits were dismissed as groundless and Edison was ordered to pay all legal costs. Although U. S. Phonograph struck a lucrative deal with Montgomery Ward to produce cylinders marketed under the Lakeside name, it was too late to save the company. U.S. Phonograph cylinders appeared in the Spring-Summer 1913 catalog, but by fall of that year they were no longer able to make new recordings and their cylinders were dropped from the Fall 1913-Winter 1914 catalog. On November 5, 1918, U.S. Phonograph Company stock was found to have no value. After seven years of inactivity, the company was officially dissolved on February 21, 1921.