Gibson guitars aren't the only musical object Kalamazoo is famous for; see and hear the Kalamazoo Duplex Phonograph that revolutionized the "talking machines."

Gramophone records were introduced in the early 1900's and not long after, Kalamazoo's Duplex Phonograph Company innovated the way people listened to them.

Canadian immigrant Charles E. Hill patented the dual-horn phonograph, promising "twice the sound." He first planned to manufacture the unique twin cone turntables in Nebraska before moving production to Kalamazoo, according to Kalamazoo Public Library's extensive research on the history of the Duplex Phonograph.

A 1905 advertisement archived in the Library of Congress describes the benfits and prestige of owning one:

The Duplex Phonograph is twice as good as any other make because it amplifies the sound from both sides of the vibrating diaphragm through TWO HORNS thus doubling the volume and beauty of the music and and entirely eradicating the scratch and squeak common to old style machines. GET THE BEST AND LATEST.

They go on to boast:

We manufacture THE DUPLEX PHONOGRAPH under our own exclusive patents at our factory in Kalamazoo, Michigan. We are not mail-order dealers. We make the goods and sell direct to user. We have no jobbers or dealers. We can sell to the user just as cheap as we could to jobbers.

All that for an incredible factory price of $29.85.

Bonus Video: Drone Flyover of the Abandoned Parchment Paper Factory Near Kalamazoo

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