Henry Babson - Early Life and Professional Career

Early Life and Professional Career

Babson was the son of Augustus "Gus" Babson and Laura Margaret (Davis). He was born in Massachusetts in 1875 and grew up in Seward County, Nebraska.

He made the acquaintance of fellow Nebraskan, Leon Douglass, who at the time worked for the Nebraska Phonograph Company. Douglass was an inventor and patented a number of improvements to the phonograph and was a pioneer in the development of color technology for film. After moving to Chicago, Babson first worked at the World's Fair for $1 a day, possibly in Douglass' slot phonograph concession (Douglass had invented a coin-slot attachment for the phonograph, creating the immediate predecessor to the jukebox). He then obtained work from Douglass, who by then had become a manager of the Chicago Central Phonograph Company, which was part of the Thomas Edison-affiliated North American Phonograph Company, distributor for the Edison Phonograph. Babson's starting salary was $15 a week and he was a cashier. For a brief time, at Douglass' direction, he also worked in San Francisco, running a slot phonograph concession and a parlor, which he then sold in 1895, at Douglass' direction, to Peter Bacigalupi, a pioneer of early music recordings, and the business became known as "Edison's Kinetoscope, Phonograph and Graphophone Arcade."

Babson returned to Chicago and continued to rise in the sound recording sales industry. Beginning in 1903, he traveled worldwide, including China, Russia, the Far East and Europe as a representative for the Victor Talking Machine Company, selling over $100,000 worth of phonographs. Later, with his brothers, Fred and Gus, he started the Babson Brothers Company in Chicago, a mercantile and catalog mail order company similar to Sears, Roebuck and Company, which was a major seller of the Edison Phonograph, as well as Babson Records, Burlington watches, clothing, shoes, and farm supplies. He also became a director of the Talking Machine Company of Chicago and then a major stockholder in the Victor Talking Machine Company, of which his mentor Leon Douglass was the first Vice-President. Victor was the manufacturer of the highly successful Victrola phonograph player. The company was eventually acquired by RCA. Due to his success in business and investments, Babson was able to travel internationally and ultimately fulfilled his dream of owning purebred Arabian horses.