Nathaniel Baldwin might have had his vein as an inventor, and this took his mind off unexpected paths at times. This happened at a meeting of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake at an uncertain time between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. While listening to the priest, Baldwin noticed that the acoustics were weak and he could hardly hear anything. This boredom led to an obsession with how to amplify sound, and a device that over time earned him the title of inventor of modern headphones.

Nathaniel Baldwin’s tale of a great inventor in the purest style self man, a self-made man, like his contemporaries Thomas A. Edison, Nikola Tesla, Frederick Collins or Mónico Sánchez Moreno. As in some of these cases, its success was as spectacular as the subsequent fall. He moved from making headphones to the kitchen table to running his own company; and saving money and fame, even working for the Navy, go to jail.

This is his story.

And by the way, a gadget that we find everywhere today: the “helmet”.

Designed for the mass and made for the military

Bitelephone by Ernest Mercadier.

At the end of the 19th century, earmuffs were so different in appearance from existing ones, that at times they looked more like large stethoscopes. In 1890, Londoners were using a receiver to listen to Electrophone, an on-demand streaming service. The rather large device was held in a handle and slid under the chin. Before that, the Telephone was used in Hírmondó and they had registered several patents: Ernest Mercadier’s Bitelephone and Ezra Gilliland’s receiver.

The US Army also had devices, but their results could obviously have been improved. On the brink of World War II, one of the people who knew how to see it at the right time was Baldwin, an inventor from a Mormon family, who had studied physics and electrical engineering at Stanford University and had served until then. as a teacher, electrician and operator – worked hydroelectric power plant Mill Creek Canyon, Utah.

As a child Baldwin was fascinated with designing appliances, and towards the end of the 19th century he was toying with the idea of ​​designing an improved version of the steam engine. But after his experience with the acoustics of the Salt Lake Temple, his full attention was focused on another equally complex problem: how to amplify sound and improve receivers. During his experiments, he experimented with compressed air cylinders, noise sensitive valves, and improvements to existing apparatus.

By May 1910 he had a convincing solution: two receivers of remarkable sensitivity, attached to a headband and equipped with earplugs with a mile of fine copper wire and a mica diaphragm. Confident of the potential of his invention, he devoted himself to sending letters to companies dedicated to the manufacture of radio materials and wireless devices. It was of little use. This seemingly homemade solution didn’t convince the industry or the Smithsonian Institution, so Baldwin decided to change his strategy and knocked on another door: US Navy.

Electrophone user.

As Admiral Arthur Jepy Hepburn of the Naval Radio Division later recalled, one fine day he came across “a letter from Salt Lake City written in purple ink on blue and pink legal paper” signed by Mr Baldwin. In his letter, the inventor highlighted the advantages of his device – noting that they have a resistance of about 2,000 ohms – and concluded by encouraging them to test the prototype. The proposal was probably met with skepticism; but to the Navy’s surprise, this device worked. And surprisingly good.

Officers ordered more devices, and Baldwin began preparing them. The design of its headphones was perfected, some adjustments suggested by Navy technicians were applied, and the result was good enough for the military to decide to order more units. Problem: That weird inventor from Utah worked in his home kitchen and in the spare time that his main job left him, his capacity was very limited.

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Gradually the design was simplified until it was reduced. a pair of adjustable wire rods covered in leather and connected to two receivers. Things also improved at the business level. To meet the growing demand brought by the already raging winds of war, Baldwin quit his job at the power plant in 1914 to set up his own factory. Over time, he added a new building, bought land, partnered with other companies… In 1922 he employed 150 people, worked three shifts, and produced 150 devices a day.

Baldwin’s company was growing stronger and the proliferation of radio as a form of entertainment prompted him to innovate in its products; but there is no empire that lasts a hundred years, and that of the inventor of Utah is no exception. A strong advocate of polygamy, a position that has marked his career and life over the years, Baldwin has dedicated himself to helping people of the same faith in different ways: he hired them at his factory, financed their housing, and paid the bills.

In 1924 he brought some of his coreligionists to the board, which led some of the displaced team to set up their own companies and compete with Baldwin’s. To complicate the scenario even more, the inventor invested $50,000 in a mine that didn’t have much of a fortune at about the same time. His company soon went bankrupt, and although Baldwin regained his reins, he was unable to revive the golden age of the turn of the century.

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Another bad decision in the sale of non-state stock led to a postal fraud charge in 1930 and five years in prison. Baldwin would only spend two people in McNeil Island prison, but it was enough time to put the finishing touches on his job. “He could have been America’s RCA if he had been a bit of a better businessman and didn’t support polygamy,” grandson Kay Baldwin told KSL in 2017.

Decades later, he died in Salt Lake City in early 1961. poor and far from golden yearsbut he left his name forever linked to a history of sound that continued to advance thanks to innovations like John Koss’s in the 1950s.

Pictures | Alireza Attari (Unsplash), Wikimedia and Midnight Believer (Flickr)