37
answer indicated that the end was near: "Everything. 1930 was
confined wheelchair but still continued working the
rubber experiments.
In September Edison was confined his bed and the
family began prepare for the funeral arrangements. When his staff
asked him what was shipped back New Jersey, one word
.XIV-19
36
human life. normally returned West Orange from
Florida the spring, around March. national outpouring grief followed. was
. President Hoover had asked for daily bulletins. died
on October 1931. Some progress was being made in
producing rubber from goldenrod and was well pleased. The fact that had close
down the phonograph operation— humiliating step for the
inventor the talking machine— while being honored the
great innovator, indication the gulf that had arisen
between between the Edison image and reality. Yet Edison was
still determined keep experimenting.
The newsreels taken the Festival Light show that
age and illness had begun take their toll.
The great inventor's last days had been followed the world's
press." Edison
did return the laboratory the summer 1931 and reported
for work several times. But 1931 his health was
so poor that his return was delayed until June. The
phonograph business shows that was out step with the
consuming public the 1920s." Ironically, while Edison was being lionized at
the Festival Light 1929, his customers were deserting the
products based his traditional values and aesthetics
