This folder contains correspondence and other documents relating to the commercial exploitation of phonographs in the United States. Most of the items are letters to and from William E. Gilmore, president of NPCo. Some of the letters were written while Gilmore was in Europe in April, May, and early June. Other correspondents include Carl H. Wilson, manager of sales; Leonard C. McChesney, manager of the Advertising Department; and attorneys William Pelzer and Frank L. Dyer. Included are letters pertaining to the manufacture, distribution, and sale of phonographs and cylinder records, as well as correspondence about litigation, patents, and other legal matters. Among the documents for 1904 are letters from NPCo employee Frank E. Madison regarding the company's participation in the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis. In addition, there is correspondence relating to the control of the New England Phonograph Co. and the New York Phonograph Co.; the business of NPCo's Chicago office; NPCo's dealings with San Francisco jobber Peter Bacigalupi; and the publication of The New Phonogram. Other documents pertain to revisions in the jobbers' and dealers' agreements, comparisons of foreign and domestic trade, and competition in the field. Also included are reports by R. G. Dun & Co. and the Bradstreet Co. regarding the finances of NPCo, the Edison Phonograph Works, and the Edison Manufacturing Co. Several letters discuss Edison's feelings toward his former attorney, John C. Tomlinson, who had been retained by the New York Phonograph Co.

Approximately 20 percent of the documents have been selected. Among the items not selected are letters and memoranda regarding ongoing litigation with the New York Phonograph Co. Other unselected letters deal with suits against parties engaged in price cutting and the unauthorized use of Edison's name.