THOMAS EDISON THE OLD MAN

[Music] Meno Park New Jersey on this site nearly 100 years ago Thomas Alva Edison began his work of service for the world to illumin the path of progress en lighten labor For All Mankind Thomas Edison was present at the dedication of this monument in 1925 [Music] he was called The Jersey Columbus the wizard of Meno Park his country awarded him a special Congressional Medal of Honor with a citation it read quite simply this Democratic kindly modest man has bestowed on the human race blessings instead of bondage ser instead of serfdom construction instead of Conquest but Beyond The Monuments and the medals there was a man known only to those with whom he worked and lived these Earnest dedicated men called him neither wizard nor Columbus they called him from the time he was in his 20s the old man why it could have been a mild mockery of his endless boyish enthus enthusiasm or it could have been because from the age of 12 he had been deaf it may have been that the phrase the old man at once paid tribute to his Superior genius yet held within it the Resonance of affection and respect the answer lies perhaps in the thoughts and feelings of those who knew him and shared his labors or more likely the answer lies in the thoughts and feelings of the old man [Music] himself [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] fast moving modern-day Transportation provide the foreground for the Edison Tower at Meno Park solitary against the New Jersey sky it stands as a symbol of the forceful forward moving results of Thomas Edison's [Music] genius it was here from 1876 to 1886 that he perfected many devices known and daily utilized throughout the world most notably the phonograph and the first practical incandescent lamp [Music] when the young inventor first came to Meno Park there were a few buildings in an open pasture in a letter to a friend Edison wrote It's 4 miles from raway the prettiest spot in New Jersey we'll show you around and go strawberry he didn't do much strawberry however instead he created the first industrial research laboratory in America and gathered around him a group of skilled and dedicated workers Edison made your work interesting one of them said he made me feel I was making something with him I wasn't just a [Music] Workman Edison was indistinguishable from his men it was was his genius that separated him from the others yet at the same time joined them all together in a series of achievements that reached its climax in October 1879 years later the old man remembered the event before starting experiments on the incest electric light system many memorandums were drawn up as the general system if it was to be successful all the units must be worked in m L this necessitated the creation of a lamp of very high resistance on October 21st 1871 numerous experiments resulted in the production of a small unit M of compara enormous resistance the conditions of great stability after the result I knew the problem approach the my by 1882 he was able to say I have accomplished all that I [Music] promised but the wooden sheds of Meno Park could no longer contain the expanding inventiveness of Edison's Restless mind a new site was chosen West Orange New [Music] Jersey here the activities Edison enjoyed with his men could be developed to a degree never achieved before for the next 44 years Edison and his carefully chosen Associates pursued their goal of inventing and developing things that every man woman and child in the world wanted the machine shop still stands a symbol of Edison's endless energy the now outdated machines can still churn and were in the West Orange compound as they did in the days when it was one of the wonders of the industrial world we can build anything from a lady's watch to a locomotive Edison said the old chemical lab contained over 8,000 samples of everything to experiment with here Edison could exercise an earlier motto you come across something you don't thoroughly understand don't rest until you run it down Edison reported that he had ordered everything from an elephant's hide to the eyeballs of a US senator and he could also practice his particular brand of Genius which which he defined as 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration it was also at West Orange that he could return to the Improvement of an earlier neglected invention the one which had earned him the title of Wizard of Meno Park the phonograph years before while working on a telegraph repeater he designed a little machine using a cylinder provided with grooves around the surface over this was to be placed tin for which was to receive and record the movements of a diaphragm Edison handed one of his workmen a sketch of the model asking him to build it as specified what's its purpose the Workman asked it must talk Edison replied the man thought this absurd but Edison had long been accustomed to ridicule friendly and otherwise when the machine was built it talked the Great and the near Great came to the wood Panel Room in West Orange to meet the wizard and record for him Helen Davies was one of the popular singers of the day [Music] I [Applause] [Music] the the great Russian pianist and composer Serge R manov came to play for Edison soon they were friends but the attention of the world's great never diverted Edison from further experiment and [Music] development row upon row discarded horns are mute testimony to Edison's unceasing Pursuit Of Sound a death man's gift to the [Music] world the joyous sound and rhythms reached out from the music Halls into the home popular singers at audiences in the millions entertainment that could have been only an annual event now became part of everyday life [Music] behind but Thomas Edison envisioned a wider potential for his invention he wanted phonographic books for the blind dictation without the need of a stenographer the preservation of speeches by the country's great men and an aid in the common process of learning something as routine as spelling the old man had begun it all in his later years he recalled its beginning with these simple words the first words I spoke in the original photograph a little piece of practical poetry Mary had a little lamb exp with white of snow and everywhere that Mary went the lamb was sure to go [Music] the photograph found its way to the home and heart of many the phonograph however was not Edison's final attempt to capture human activity for posterity returning from the Paris exposition of 1889 he went to a darkened room to observe the fruits of another [Music] experiment on the wall was an image of one of his working men saying good morning Mr Edison glad to see you back movies had been developed and they were not silent but [Music] talking as always Edison's men contributed to the experiment in whatever Way NE necessary it will do for the eye what the photograph does for the year Edison said of his newest achievement yet for all his vision Edison failed to apply for a European patent so little expectation did he have for his contic scope that he felt it didn't Merit the $150 patent fee required on this occasion he had failed to gauge the immense potential of his own work but not for long the West Orange compound soon welcomed a Strang looking box-like building it was quickly dubbed the Black Mariah because it resembled an oldfashioned police wagon this first motion picture Studio Drew performing artists from all walks of life among the early performers was Gentleman Jim Corbett pugilistic Idol of America Who provided a realistic exhibition of his art unknown heavyweight Peter Courtney received a small fee for his courage in facing Corbett the original Little Egypt preserved on film the belly dance she won Fame with at the Chicago World's Fair with Thomas Edison behind the camera like the phonograph before it the motion picture moved out of the Edison laboratory and into the world into the daily lives of Ordinary People Beville with its endless variety of performers found a new [Music] medium film held Forever In Motion a fragile dance of billowing veils intricate and amazing skills of the resilient la Tina the contortionist were captured on the [Music] screen and the one and only Sandow the strong [Music] man but Edison saw other possibilities for his invention it could reserve its own time for future Generations Edison himself took his newly developed camera in hand and photographed The Ordinary People in their ordinary activities capturing forever a day long gone the excitement of the turn of the century was preserved reflecting a time when the nation was expanding in all directions and the Fashions at the Easter Parade would now be seen without going to Fifth [Music] Avenue another miracle of the age was captured by Edison's camera the subway was open but the sights and sounds of the Ordinary World never claimed the inventor for long for all his enjoyment of working with his men Solitude too was a necessary companion the library at the West Orange laboratory contained over 10,000 books that Edison scoured in an attempt to expand and develop his mind I use my body to carry my brain around Edison said if work was an obsession with him so was learning he had become a legend in his time but this particular Legend had little time to dress for the part nor did Legend protect him from disappointment and disaster once after an experiment had ended in a quar of a million dollar failure he could only say well it's all gone but we had a hell of a good time spending it he explained his attitude toward money and work in one characteristically brief sentence I always invent to obtain money to go on [Music] inventing another disaster hit closer to home on a December night in 1914 the lab that stored nitrate film caught fire the Flames quickly spread Edison watching with his son Charles turned to the boy and said where's your mother get her over here and her friends too they'll never see a fire like this [Music] again before the final Flames had died Edison had begun to build again build that is with the help of friends Henry Ford one of Edison's closest friends made an immediate loan for reconstruction industry was not the only level on which the old man could enjoy his association with Henry Ford Ford Harvey Firestone and poet naturalist John Burrows took long camping trips together a curious quartet harmonized by a shared appreciation of the natural with the Instinct for competition never completely silenced burrow would later write it is a great pleasure to see Edison relax Lily sleeping in his clothes like a baby yet for Edison friendship could hardly satisfy the deeper yearnings of the human heart after the death of his first wife Edison had left his home in Meno Park never to return but as always with Edison unversity was an obstacle to be overcome an inspiration for this particular renewal was a young music student from Ohio Mina Miller Edison wrote in his vacation diary got to thinking about Mina and came near being run over by a street car the groom later described the courtship I taught the lady of my heart the morse code I asked her thus in Morse code if she would marry me me and the almost 50 years that remained in his life were spent with the lady of his [Music] heart when Edison moved part of his work to Florida continuing an 8-year search for a plant it would yield rubber Mrs Edison was there did you uh put out the seed from the bir why did you see her there what why did you put it right goodbye goodbye that right morning did hand in last night yes he got in what time it's about [Music] 9:30 Edison rans sacked the World In His search testing 177,000 different plant [Music] specimens Mr Ed I show you one of the M sers which we have received will you test it [Music] please this is made with B only no aone very good very good as Mrs Edison put it everything turned to rubber in the family we talked rubber thought rubber dreamed [Music] rubber that 10 fo Roose to putting the varnish on the paper I'm going to make that out of heavy tin and a 1 in roll that ought to be heavy all right he kind [Music] to at the end of his explorations Edison discovered that rubber could be extracted from the common Golden Rod and he celebrated his Discovery by growing one 12 ft high but already a European concern had learned how to make synthetic rubber not from Plants but from coal and petroleum and to most people his final experiment was only a failure but not to Edison at the age of 82 assuring the world that a better solution to the rubber supply problem was at hand he said we're just [Music] beginning kind have today oh fine that's good now at a great age Edison addressing a group of scholarship students could only repeat the central theme of his life it gives me very real pleasure to welcome you 49 young men from each state in the Union of the District of Colombia I congratulate you all for having earned the right compete to the final examination here but let me say this to all of you do not count too heavily on your mental attainments they are necessary to success but remember always there is no substitute for a hard work but even for an Edison now indeed the old man the years of hard work had to come to an end the body the Carri his brain around became too exhausted to Bear the [Music] burden Edison began spending more and more time at Glenmont the West Orange Mansion to which he had brought his bride almost half a century earlier holidays were as special to Edison as to any man difficult as it was to put work aside he would Revel with his family in the spirit of the day upstairs the living room library was a favorite family room where Edison could study or play with the children it was just down the hall in the master bedroom on an Autumn night in 1931 that the end finally came Edison's final words spoken as he looked out toward the Jersey land Escape were it's very beautiful over [Music] there at 3:24 in the morning those gathered on the broad lawn down from the house saw the dreaded but expected signal the lights in the upstairs room were turned on full Blaze Edison was [Music] dead the incredible Adventure begun so many years before an adventure that had taken Edison from his boyhood in Ohio to an Adolescence in Michigan and finally to New Jersey had come to a close as far as epap Edison himself spoke it at another earlier time if I have spurred men to Greater effort if our work has widened The Horizon of men's understanding even a little and gives a measure of happiness in the world I am [Music] content [Music] oh