4 Sound and Music in Three Dimensions: Spectacular Stereophony at Bell Telephone Laboratories

As much as any other historical figure, Oscar, a mechanical man with a slight smile, stands out as a curious protagonist in the history of stereo sound. A tailor's mannequin with microphones for ears, Oscar was the picture of 1920s elegance, or at least half of him was. From the waist up Oscar was impressively humanlike, with eyebrows delicately painted on, a head of lightly thinning hair, and a permanent but seemingly nonplastic smile (see figure 4.1). He wore a three-piece suit with a jacket, a waistcoat, a crisp shirt, and, on occasion, a tie. From the waist down, however, the illusion of Oscar's humanity was discarded. On most days Oscar was fixed on top of a steel pole, with two wires dangling beneath his suit jacket where legs should be (see figure 4.2).