This folder contains correspondence and other documents relating to the business of the National Phonograph Co. and its successor, Thomas A. Edison, Inc. Among the items for 1911 are documents indicating Edison's direct involvement in testing the technical quality of the recordings and in the selection of music and talent. Also included is a tabulation of the company's contracts with recording artists. Other documents deal with the manufacture of cabinets for Amberola machines; relocating the mold-making plant in an attempt to secure a dust-proof environment; production routines for the turning, backing, and soldering of disc molds; and the possibility of selling phonographs through piano dealers. At the end of the folder is a 32-page report by William Maxwell, vice president in charge of musical phonographs, on "The Present Condition of Our Phonograph Business."

Approximately 80 percent of the documents have been selected. The items not selected include weekly reports of machines ordered by dealers, financial statements that duplicate the information in selected documents, and duplicates and variants of selected documents.

Courtesy of Thomas Edison National Historical Park.