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Edison memorabilia sells at auction

Keys to the lab where Thomas Edison invented the phonograph and some of the lightbulbs that he perfected have sold at auction in the US.

Thomas A. Edison: Keys to His Menlo Park Laboratory
Keys to the lab where Thomas Edison invented the phonograph have sold at auction in the US. (AAP)

Keys to the New Jersey lab where Thomas Edison invented the phonograph and some of the lightbulbs that he perfected have sold for more than $US60,000 ($A80,400) at auction.

The keys sold for $US10,625 at an auction run by Heritage Auctions in Dallas. A bulb created by a German inventor who claimed to have invented the incandescent lightbulb before Edison did was sold for $US23,750, while a set of five Edison bulbs used in a court case sold for $US30,000.

Tags on some of the keys list the doors that they opened, including Edison's 1876 lab that became known as the "invention factory." Another key says "motor shed," and a third "shop."


1 min read

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Source: AAP



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