Joshua Stoddard patented the calliope - October 9, 1855

On this day in 1855, American inventor Joshua Stoddard was issued a patent for the calliope.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This Day in History Class is a production of I
Heart Radio. Welcome back everyone. I'm Eves and you're listening
to This Day in History Class, a show where we
peel back a new layer of history every day. Today
is October nine. The day was October nine, eight fifty five.

(00:27):
Joshua Starddard received a patent for the steam powered calliope,
an instrument that produces musical notes when steam is sent
through large whistles. The steam calliope is loud and shrill,
and it was used mainly on riverboats and in circuses
and fairs where steam was readily available. The calliope is

(00:47):
sometimes called the steam piano or steam organ. Stoddard was
a beekeeper, following in line with the family business. Because
his family was well off, Stardard had time to invent things.
One of those creations was the calliope. The original calliope
at fifteen whistles of different sizes attached in a row

(01:07):
to the top of a small steam boiler. Stoddard was
issued Patent number thirteen thousand, six sixty eight for his
so called Apparatus for producing music by steam or compressed air.
In his patent, Stoddard noted that His use of a
puppet valve now called a poppet valve to let steam
or air escape was an important feature of the instrument.

(01:31):
As a spoke cylinder revolved, it pressed on the puppet
valve stems, lifting them and letting steam into the whistles.
That meant it was the first patented completely mechanical calliope,
though Stoddard did later replace the cylinder with a keyboard
so the instrument could be played by hand. The Starddard
received the patent for the steam calliope. His design built

(01:53):
on existing instruments and concepts. In an eighteen fifty one
issue of the day in Journal and Advertiser, Will Why
of DuPont, Indiana claimed that he quote invented a plan
whereby music can be produced on steamboats of the softest
and most pathetic character by the agency of steam. He
described the instrument as having a horizontal pipe with seven

(02:16):
or more whistles in it that had different sizes and tones,
and he said it was operated by a set of keys,
but there was no evidence that he ever patented or
built that instrument. Stoddard envisioned the calliope as a replacement
for the caroline or church bills, but the instrument found
success in being mounted on parade wagons and circuses. There

(02:39):
will be a driver who controlled the wagon, a fireman
to stoke the boiler, and a musician to play the
callyope's keyboard. Calliope whistles are tuned to a chromatic scale,
but the instrument is known for its off pitch notes
because of how hard it is to tune accurately. Stoddard's
calliope made its first official debut in July of eighteen

(03:00):
fifty five. In its second appearance on Worcester Common on
July four, audiences enjoyed performances of Pop Goes, the Weasel,
and Yankee Doodle. Some models of calliopes could be heard
for several miles. Because calliopes were so loud, they were
good at attracting attention, so they were installed on river

(03:22):
boats and circuses and on steam driven caro sales. But
it was so loud that some of Stoddard's family and
the people in Worcester were ashamed of the instrument. The
city of Worcester even passed an ordinance that banned playing
the calliope within city limits. The loudness of the instrument
also was not great for calliope players, as it could

(03:45):
cause premature hearing loss. Stoddard started the American Steam Music
Company to make the calliope for railroads and steamships. Stoddard
created improved models of the calliope, and the instrument was
installed on many boats. The number of whistles on a
callyope varied from around twenty to thirty two, and people

(04:05):
experimented with different uses for the calliope, like using it
to alert ships captains of changing weather conditions. Though it
wasn't long before Starter lost control of the company, other
companies manufactured callyopes for years, as many calliopes were automated
through the use of a cylinder or music role. By
the early twentieth century, callyope players became less integral to

(04:28):
the operation of the instruments, but they still had a
keyboard allowing a person to play the callyope manually. Around
this time, compressed air began to replace the steam used
in callyopes, which was safer and more convenient. Calliopes still
exist today, and some are still in working order, though

(04:48):
most are no longer playable. Stoddart didn't make a bunch
of money off of the Calliope, and after he lost
his company, he returned to farming and beekeeping. I'm Eve
Steff Code and hopefully you know a little more about
history today than you did yesterday. Looking up for our
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(05:36):
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