Johnson Victrola Museum in Dover, Delaware — Echoes of the Past

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The packed Johnson Victrola Museum in Delaware, honors the mechanical and business genius of Eldridge Reeves Johnson, a pioneer in the music industry whose innovations transformed how we enjoy music.

As the founder of the Victor Talking Machine Company, Johnson helped develop and popularize the Victrola, a kind of phonograph that brought recorded music into homes worldwide.

He successfully designed the motor and partnered with another inventor to improve the device’s soundbox. He also developed technologies to improve sound recording and disc production.

He registered the Victor trademark, reorganized the business as the Victor Talking Machine Company, and began selling phonographs called Victors.

In 1906, the company introduced the Victrola, a refined device with the horn and turntable inside a cabinet, designed to function as a piece of furniture.

Models ranged from large, exquisitely crafted pieces to basic boxes where the speaker was bigger and everything else was smaller. 

Victor also signed and recorded some of the best known singers and musicians of the early 20th century, Enrico Caruso being among the foremost. 

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