The record player intrigued many while its capabilities crafted allure and its sound created joy. The forefather of the turntable, Edison's phonograph initially comprised a grooved cylinder wrapped in tin foil (the recording surface) that could be turned by a hand crank. Edison swapped out tinfoil for wax for its better sound and improved durability.

Ten years later, in 1887, came the next peg along the turntable line: the gramophone. The patent of Emile Berliner, the gramophone used a needle to laterally trace spiral grooves onto a cylinder. Soon, cylinders were replaced by flat discs, initially made of rubber and then later shellac.