Eldridge R. Johnson

Eldridge Reeves Johnson (February 6, 1867 – November 14, 1945) was an American businessman and inventor who founded the Victor Talking Machine Company in 1901 through a merger of his Consolidated Talking Machine Company and the Berliner Gramophone Company. In 1926, Johnson sold Victor to two banking firms for US$40 million; in 1929, Victor was purchased by the Radio Corporation of America and became known as RCA Victor.

He founded the Eldridge R. Johnson Manufacturing Company in 1894 and developed a spring driven motor for the Berliner Gramophone. He improved the quality of phonograph records with the vertical cut recording method. He co-founded the Consolidated Talking Machine Company along with Leon Douglass in 1900.

He received 76 patents for his inventions over the course of his career. He won a gold medal for his products at the Pan-American Exposition. He received a Grammy Trustees Award posthumously in 1985 for significant contributions to the field of recording.

The Eldridge R. Johnson Park in Camden, New Jersey, and the Eldridge R. Johnson Foundation at the University of Pennsylvania are named in his honor. The Johnson Victrola Museum in Dover, Delaware, was established to honor Johnson and highlight his accomplishments.

Early life and education Johnson was born February 6, 1867, Johnson attended the Dover Academy

He was quickly sued by Zonophone who attempted to tie Johnson to the Berliner Gramophone injunction and prevent him from referring to his device as a Gramophone. On March 1, 1901, the injunction was denied but Johnson was temporarily prevented from using variations on the word ‘gramophone’. Though this decision was soon reversed, Johnson chose not to refer to his talking machine as a 'gramophone'.

Victor Talking Machine Company

The Victor Talking Machine Company was created throught the merger of the Consolidated Talking Machine Company and the Berliner Gramophone Company. Johnson served as president and Leon Douglass as vice-president. He was a member of the Academy of Natural Sciences, the Art Club of Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the Pennsylvania Historical Society, and the Union League of Philadelphia. Johnson was interred at West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.

Personal life In 1897, he married to Elise R. Fenimore Johnson and together they had a son E.R. Fenimore Johnson. He had a summer home in Ventnor, New Jersey, and a house in Pinehurst, North Carolina.

He was a trustee of the University of Pennsylvania and served as chairman of the University of Pennsylvania museum. He used his private yacht, Caroline II for an archeological expedition to Easter Island. He led another expedition to Piedras Negras, Guatemala, to discover the missing heads of figures found earlier. He brought back a throne which was donated to the University of Pennsylvania museum. He purchased the original manuscript for Alice in Wonderland from A. S. W. Rosenbach for $150,000.

In 1927, he donated $800,000 to the University of Pennsylvania to establish the Eldridge R. Johnson Foundation for research on medical physics.

The Johnson Victrola Museum was established in Dover, Delaware, in honor of Johnson and contains phonographs, memorabilia, photographs, and his Grammy award.

Patents , Wire stitching machine, 1893 , Stapling machine, 1898 , Gramophone and actuating device therefor, 1898 , Sound recording and reproducing machine, 1899 , Sound recording and reproducing machine, 1900 , Gramophone, 1900 , Sound recording and reproducing machine, 1900 , Sound recording and reproducing machine, 1900 , Sound recording and reproducing machine, 1901 , Sound recording and reproducing machine, 1901 , Machine for leading sound records, 1901 , Spring motor, 1901 , Governor for spring motors, 1901 , Sound box for talking machine, 1901

, Sound recording and reproducing machine, 1905