Scientists Recover Audio from Thomas Edison’s Talking Doll

Thursday, 14 July 2011 | by Pat's Picks

Before baby dolls cooed “mama” they sang Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. The Newark Star-Ledger says a group of scientists was able to recreate the sounds embedded in a “small, bent metal ring” invented by Thomas Edison and believed to be the “earliest known voice for a talking doll.” Recorded in 1888, historian say the woman hired by Edison to record the 15-second song “is arguably the first recording artist.”

Listen to Edison’s rendition of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. I got to say, it doesn’t sound that soothing: