Passenger Trains > George R. Webb - Financier and Inventor

I stumbled upon his name while doing some research about motion pictures. Mr. Webb was a distinguished gentleman who at one time was the president of the United Railway & Electric Co. here in Baltimore, Md. He also was president of the Baltimore Electric Co.

He invented the first public address system called the Magnaphone. According to an article published in Jan., 1913. He equipped New York's Grand Central Station with this device. The article mentioned that a transcontinental railroad would install it on their trains to announce stations, dining car openings, etc. It was also installed on ships, both private and military.

A variation of this device was used to wire homes for "Pay Per Hear" renderings of popular recordings, through a dedicated phone line. A subscriber could have the speakers installed throughout the house if they wished.

What I found most amazing was that he invented a system to exhibit motion pictures with synchronized sound. He unveiled this system, which was a variant of the later Vitaphone system, at an exposition in Paris in 1912!! Searching the Internet, I have found New York Times reviews of demonstrations given at the Fulton Theater in that city, the article states that the people were very pleased with the showings. Mr. Webb went on to make about 20 films using this process and showing it around the country. But sadly this man died during the influenza epidemic of 1918 and his invention forgotten. When the movie "The Jazz Singer" became a hit, attempts were made to revive it but without success.

I apologize for being long winded. But, I think that Mr. George Webb was just an amazing fellow!

BaltoJoey

Interesting historical piece; I seem to recall a major character in the well-known play "Our Town" had its central character's FATHER by that name, G. Webb, as well. Thanks for the post.

The reason why the Vitaphone system didn't last is simple--it depended on large disc recordings played on a turntable staying in sync with the movie projector. It worked marginally OK when the films were new, but after they'd been in release for a while, there would be breaks that would have to be spliced, and the projectionist would have to add black film long enough to keep the length equal. There was also the problem of the needle skipping a groove (remember the analog phonograph days?), plus the fact that the discs had to be replaced fairly often due to the heavy tone arms of those days. It didn't take long for the sound-on-film systems to win out. I remember seeing a print of "The Jazz Singer" on TV many years ago, and it seemed to have twice as many cue marks (those circles in the corner that warn the projectionist when it's time to change projectors), and wondered if some of them were "change turntables" signals. And now back to our regular train service.

Oh, I know all the failings of the Vitaphone System. Movies and trains share an equal part of my heart. I was a part time theater manager and projectionist for about 10 years. :-)

I just thought that it was very interesting that someone had invented a way to have sound movies almost 100 years ago! Plus, it is cool that he was raised and lived in Baltimore. I guess it's a home town pride thing! ......LOL

BaltoJoey

PS: Did you know silent and sound movies were projected at different speeds?