The wall photos highlight some triumphs of the age. Above the phonograph, we see the Brooklyn Bridge in 1883, the year that masterpiece opened.

At the base of the chronograph on the desk of the Main Laboratory, a hand-held magnifier intensifies details of electrical circuits, curious products of another era.

Our proprietor hard at work.

In 1909, the Victor Talking Machine Company produced the Victor III, an enchanting phonograph, here with a morning glory horn, cranked up and ready to serve some congenial jams.

Although the Main Laboratory features a robust Alternating Current electrical infrastructure based on Mr. Tesla's work, the Victor phonograph was designed for homes before the era of electrification.  Its hand-wound spring movement uses acoustic amplification to achieve impressive sound reproduction, without any electricity at all.

Victor engineers produced stunning machines.  Even the stylus of the Victor III is a work of art.  It holds a sliver of steel, the player's needle that glides over the grooves of the rotating platter.

On the opposite side of the window, an antique photo shows us a glimpse of a dirigible floating gracefully over Manhattan Island.