Incredible 1888 audio recording made on Thomas Edison's phonograph shows how Victorian people spoke

Recording voices and capturing photographs are routine activities today, but before modern technology, these were groundbreaking achievements. Early innovations provide us with rare windows into the past—like the 1888 recording of Colonel George Gouraud. In the clip, Gouraud delivers a dinner speech, offering a snapshot of the tone, language, and conversational style of the Victorian era. Shared by the YouTube channel Kings and Things (@kingsandthings), the recording highlights a key milestone in humanity's ability to preserve history through sound.

The recording, dated October 5, 1888, originates from Upper Norwood in South London. It had a constant static, but Gouraud's voice and his speech could be heard clearly. Speaking in a clear, heavy and deliberate tone, he projected firmness while "confessing to an embarrassment." The colonel also projected his voice and was heard loud and clear. People invited to the dinner showcased the leaps that modern technology had made, as per the video. A person in the background shared that the event was hosted by a machine and one of the guests attended it from the other side of the Atlantic just through his recorded voice.

Thomas Edison's phonograph was used to record the voice. The device was originally unveiled 10 years before the meeting happened. It was the first machine capable of both recording and playing back sounds. The first model had several flaws that made it commercially unviable, even though the invention had garnered a lot of attention. The device was perfected 10 years later and Gouraud decided to promote the device at the dinner as Edison's agent in London. He would often promote it in Britain by demonstrating how it works in front of influential people. They would get to hear recordings from Edison and other celebrities. Each of them was asked to leave a message for the recorder as well.

This practice made it possible to preserve the voices of many prominent figures in 19th-century Britain. Although many of the recordings were damaged or lost, the remaining recordings are some of the oldest possible voices we can still hear. The phonograph was completed at a high speed in June 1888, as it was competing with Alexander Graham Bell's graphophone at the time, which served a similar function. Gouraud was the one who informed Edison of the development of such a device and prompted the quick completion of the phonograph. 

People in the comments were fascinated by the voices and shared their views. @chimpinaneckbrace wrote, "Every modern actor who has done an overly-hammy, olde tyme, harrumph, voice while portraying an aristocrat from that period is officially exonerated. If anything, they should be even hammier." @audralyn7454 commented, "Today is November 10, 2024. Hearing their voices from almost exactly 136 years ago is surreal. Thank you for sharing these recordings as well as some history." @michaelgreene6417 remarked, "Absolutely fascinating and mesmerizing. Even the deep, calm, resonant voice of the narrator seems to be of a bygone era when life was so much slower and more deliberate--perhaps an intentional speaking device by the individual doing the voice-over. Kudos for posting this! A service to humanity."