ABOUT

brief intro of our services and brand.

The Cheney Talking Machine Company was founded in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1914 by Forest Cheney, a musical prodigy and a concert violinist. Cheney’s invention was a machine that played records with an octagonal tone arm that “somehow mystically harmonized” with the octaves of the musical scale.

In 1919, Department store magnate Marshall Field, turned part of a high traffic area on the third floor of his Chicago store into “an aristocratic talking machine parlor.” There he displayed the Cheney machines, including a carved Georgian model which sold for $800—an extravagant amount then, which accounting for inflation would come to  $9,200-ish today.

The Cheney Place building was built by Cheney in 1916 to manufacture his invention. Cheney Talking machines were built there until 1936—when newer technology made them obsolete.