This folder contains correspondence and other documents relating to the commercial exploitation of phonographs in the United States. Most of the items are letters to and from William E. Gilmore, president of NPCo. Included are letters pertaining to the manufacture, distribution, and sale of phonographs and cylinder records, as well as correspondence about litigation, patents, and other legal matters. Among the documents for 1901 are letters concerning price cutting and the unauthorized use of Edison's name by phonograph dealers, the sale and distribution of phonographs in Chicago and San Francisco, the infringement of Edison's patents by the Victor Talking Machine Co., and ongoing litigation with the New York Phonograph Co.

Approximately 30 percent of the documents have been selected. The items not selected include correspondence obtained from the files of the New York Phonograph Co.; a statement of supplies purchased from the United States Phonograph Co.; and routine correspondence and legal documents relating to price cutting, real estate, and patents.