Emerson Record-O-Phone wire recorder/telegraphone as invented by Valdemar Poulsen

In 1901, American investors founded the American Telegraphone Co. to commercially exploit the magnetic recording technology invented by Valdemar Poulsen in 1898. As a result of mismanagement, the first telegraphone was not invented until 1912. The chemical company DuPont established a dictation center, in which letters were dictated over the phone. However, only a few hundred machines were sold and Telegraphone Co. went bankrupt in 1920. After that, the Record-O-Phone company sold the devices.