Browse Items (47 total)

The “Taxiphote” was a mechanical device to display three-dimensional images from glass slides. The original design was patented by French inventor Jules Richard (1848-1930) in 1893. This particular model dates to the early 20th century. The 800+…

The Underwood & Underwood Egypt Stereoviews collection includes 101 cards with photographs of Egypt commissioned by the Underwood & Underwood publishing company in the 1890s. The photographs, originally sold as a boxed set, document late 19th century…

The magic lantern was an early type of image projector that used pictures—paintings, prints, or photographs—on transparent plates (usually made of glass), one or more lenses, and a light source. It was mostly developed in the 17th century and…

After its introduction in 1923, Kodak’s 16mm film became the new standard for amateur filmmakers. The new film consisted of a base of non-combustible acetate plastic, a much safer alternative to the dangerously flammable cellulose nitrate used in…

The Latin alphabet has a relatively limited number of letters compared to Arabic, where connections between letters each require a separate printing matrix. This posed a particular challenge in the design of an Arabic typewriter. In 1899, two…

The Corona series of typewriters were among the most successful models in typewriter history, with hundreds of thousands of units sold. They were lightweight (compare the Arabic typewriter in this exhibit), and folded neatly into a carrying case. In…

By 1894, Emile Berliner manufactured what he called ‘gramophone’, a device to play back recordings on discs. This new product was eagerly adopted in Egypt, too: The earliest advertisements for audio recordings on discs date to 1905, but the…

Baidaphone was set up by the Lebanese Bayda family, and operated out of Berlin and Beirut. The company’s products were marketed all over the Middle East, from Tunisia to Iran, but could also be ordered by mail from South America.

Odeon were a Berlin-based record company. Established around the turn of the twentieth century, they were extremely active on the international market, and by 1905 claimed to offer several thousand titles in Arabic and Turkish.

Cairophon was the Egyptian successor company to Baidaphone, and was part owned by Muhammad Abd al-Wahhab (1901-1991) himself.