Earbuddery

If our scientists and moralists are to be believed, the iPod earbud is to blame for nearly all contemporary ills: the decline in art-appreciation, the tinnitus plague in the Low Countries, the murder-sprees of mall-rats. But the history of personal audio devices is long and storied. And romantic: the 1830 etching "Living Made Easy: Revolving Hat," reminds us that today's earbud drudge — slouching through the subway turnstile as Bon Iver mewls away on his Shuffle — was once a jaunty boulevardier, with "hearing trumpet" poised to receive the propositions of a passing wench. I've been compiling a little digital archive of old-time P.A.D.s — things stuck in, or clapped on, the ears of the yesteryear. My favorites are the amazingly Rube Goldbergian "acoustic locators," an excellent primer on which can be found here. Then there are the photos of phonograph-era headphones, including one of Thomas Edison himself, looking about as happy as a telemarketer twelve hours into his shift.