Thomas Edison Was Here!

More Than a Console Table

At first glance, I saw a well made industrial style console table. But then I learned it was a piece of Wisconsin history too.

Because Thomas Edison needed a furniture company to make the wooden cases for his early phonographs, he invested in the Wisconsin Chair Company. They dedicated their New London Wisconsin factory to manufacturing cases for his newfangled music machines.

Our console table already had a long life as Edison’s factory floor. The wood was sculpted by the feet of Wisconsin factory workers driving silver slivers into the wood. It’s likely Edison himself strode along these planks.

Here’s one of his early phonographs. (courtesy of the New London Public Museum)

Limited Edition

The console manufacturer, Charleston Forge,  only made a limited number Edison Consoles. Our console is number 069,

The Recording Industry Begins

Because he needed records for his phonographs, Edison had to start the first record companies. That included Paramount Records which was owned by his Wisconsin Chair Company. I found this on the rise & fall of the original Paramount:

How did a Wisconsin chair company, producing records on the cheap and run by men with little knowledge of their audience or the music business, build one of the greatest musical rosters ever assembled under one roof?….By the time Paramount ceased operations in 1932, it had compiled a dizzying array of performers still unrivaled to this day, spanning early jazz titans (Louis Armstrong, King Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton, Fats Waller), blues masters (Charley Patton, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Son House, Skip James), American divas (Ma Rainey, Alberta Hunter, Ethel Waters), gospel (Norfolk Jubilee Quartette), vaudeville (Papa Charlie Jackson), and the indefinable “other” (Geeshie Wiley, Elvie Thomas).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paramount_Records

We Love the Uncommon

Because we love uncommon home furnishings that can set your home apart, we had to buy an Edison Console. Come take a gander at all the treasures we offer in our 6 floors of showroom. We believe you will love what you see.