The Edison Manufacturing Company, originally registered as under the name of the United Edison Manufacturing Company and often known as simply the Edison Company, was organized by scientist / inventor and entrepreneur, Thomas A. Edison (1847–1931), and incorporated in New York City in May 1889. It succeeded the earlier Edison United Manufacturing Company, founded in 1886 as a sales agency for the old Edison Lamp Company (forerunner of the modern

General Electric Company The General Electric Company (GEC) was a major British industrial conglomerate involved in consumer and Arms industry, defence electronics, communications, and engineering. It was originally founded in 1886 as G. Binswanger and Company as an e ...

Edison Machine Works The Edison Machine Works was a manufacturing company set up to produce dynamos, large electric motors, and other components of the electrical illumination system being built in the 1880s by Thomas A. Edison in New York City. In 1892, its Schene ...

, and Bergmann & Company, which made electric lighting fixtures, bulbs, sockets, and other accessories. In April 1894, the Edison laboratory's new invention of the

Kinetoscope The Kinetoscope is an early motion picture exhibition device, designed for films to be viewed by one person at a time through a peephole viewer window. The Kinetoscope was not a movie projector, but it introduced the basic approach that woul ...

motion pictures / filming process and cameras operation, which was about to be commercialized, was brought under the Edison Company umbrella. Six years later in 1900, the United Edison Manufacturing Company was evidently succeeded by the

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

–incorporated of the reorganized Edison Manufacturing Company. The company's assets and operations were transferred to his personal estate / corporation of Thomas A. Edison, Inc. a decade later in 1911.

History

The Edison United Manufacturing Company was incorporated in July 1886 to consolidate the sales operations of the various Edison manufacturing concerns. The company went into liquidation—finalized October 31, 1889—and was succeeded by the United Edison Manufacturing Company, incorporated in New York City under New York law in May 1889. On May 4, 1900, the Edison Manufacturing Company—evidently the successor to the previous United Edison Manufacturing Company—was incorporated in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

(under

state law), with its headquarters located in

West Orange, New Jersey West Orange is a suburban Township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 48,843, an increase of 2,636 (+5.7%) from t ...

, the geographic site of the Edison laboratories and shops. From April 1894 to June 1908, William E. Gilmore was vice-president and general manager of the Edison Manufacturing Company. He took over from Alfred O. Tate and was succeeded by patent lawyer Frank Dyer. The passing mention in the introduction (p. 13) of Gilmore having been hired in April 1895 is clearly an error. See also Edison's films were made by the Kinetograph Department of the Edison Manufacturing Company. Edison's first moviemaking studio—and also the world's first—was the "Black Maria" in

, where production of

films began in early 1893. The

Edison Studios Edison Studios was an American film production organization, owned by companies controlled by inventor and entrepreneur, Thomas Edison. The studio made close to 1,200 films, as part of the Edison Manufacturing Company (1894–1911) and then Tho ...

productions moved to a

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

facility in New York City after the turn of the 20th century, and a few years later to a studio further north in the then rural countryside of the

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

The Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

. Filming locations around the United States and abroad / overseas were also used. The company had the same senior executives as the more profitable but older and separate National Phonograph Company (established 1896, reorganized 1911, dissolved 1957), to which Edison paid more attention. Edison was also distracted by other enterprises including storage electric batteries, iron ore and cement, which competed for his financial resources and led to occasional loss of focus and setting of priorities. In February 1911 the Edison Company's assets were assigned to the personal estate and corporation of Thomas A. Edison, Inc., and The Edison Manufacturing Company was formally dissolved on 9 November 1926, five years before Edison's death.

Gallery

The Lighthouse by the Sea - Edwin S. Porter - 1911, Edison Manufacturing Company - EYE FLM38670 - OB 685482.webm, Silent movie with tinting ''Lighthouse by the Sea'' (1911) directed by Edwin S. Porter for Edison Manufacturing Company. Running time: 14:46. Lord and the Peasant - Die Heimkehr des Reisenden - J. Searle Dawley, 1912, Edison Manufacturing Company.webm, Silent movie with ''Lord and the Peasant'' (1912) directed by J. Searle Dawley for Edison Manufacturing Company. Running time: 8:52 Mr. Toots' Tooth - Charles M. Seay - 1913, Edison Manufacturing Company - EYE FLM44279 - OB 685538.webm, Silent comedy movie ''Mr. Toots' Tooth'' (1913) directed by Charles M. Seay for Edison Manufacturing Company. Running time: 06:35. Mr. Toots miraculously loses his tooth.

References

{{Authority control Manufacturing companies established in 1889 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1926 Thomas Edison Articles containing video clips 1889 establishments in New Jersey 1926 disestablishments in New York (state) American companies established in 1889 American companies disestablished in 1926 Defunct manufacturing companies based in New Jersey Defunct manufacturing companies based in New York City