The Victorians had their own Spotify

In Limbo

25 Nov 2015

Invented in 1906 the teleharmonium involved two musicians playing continuously for 24 hours so that subscribers could have music transmitted directly to their phones.

The music was generated live at what inventor and lawyer Thaddeus Cahill called a “music plant,” which was located at Broadway and 39th Street.

An entire floor of the building was filled with the 200 tons of machinery required to generate the telharmonium’s tunes.

Subscribers could pick up their phone, ask the operator to connect them to the telharmonium, and the wires of their phone line would be linked with the wires emerging from the plant.

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