Going global: a Cambodian stamp commemorates Edison’s invention of the light bulb. After his invention of the phonograph in 1877, he became known as the “Wizard of Menlo Park”, and although he did not invent the title himself, it expressed very well the image he wished to project. Edison the publicistĮdison himself would have loved this image, as it was one that he himself worked hard at cultivating. It is a view that taps into the romance of the American dream, but also looks increasingly untenable. Seen in this light, the phonograph, the light bulb, the kinetoscope and a host of other innovations were all the products of one heroically ingenious mind. The Edison seen on screen follows a familiar narrative: an inventive genius and tireless worker, who singlemindedly generated some of the late 19th century’s most transformative technologies. He churns out a series of useless contraptions, is visited by Edison’s ghost and travels to the perfectly preserved laboratory in the Edison National Historical Park in New Jersey. Homer Simpson, depressed at hitting 40 with little to show for it, decides to emulate the American inventor by doing some inventing of his own. Thomas Alva Edison played a starring role in the 1998 Simpsons episode, The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace.
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