In 1830, he worked as a stage designer and technician for various theatres. Three years later, he obtained a position at the famous opera house, the Pergola Theatre in Florence. It was at that moment when young Antonio took the opportunity to put into practice his knowledge of engineering, by working as a stage technician. Life also brought him a loving wife, the costume designer Ester Mochi.

His journey seemed that it started going well. Until 1833 when Antonio Meucci was imprisoned for three months with the accusation of conspiring with the Italian unification movement. After that, he decided to immigrate with his wife to Cuba in order to make a fresh start.

As a genius, inventive and unstoppable, in 1834, he designed an acoustic pipe telephone to allow communication between the stage and the control room at the Teatro della Pergola. This type of telephone was based on the pipe telephones utilized on ships. In 1835 he became chief engineer at the Gran Teatro de Tacon in Havana. During the same period, he devised a water purification system that helped Havana residents to get clean water.

In 1849, he did it again! He explored electromedicine, using electrical impulses to treat human pain from migraines. During this invention, he designed a device that was called the “Telegrafo Parlante” or the “Teletrofono” or, in other words, the talking telegraph. That was going to be the beginning of a revolutionary invention!

On April 13, 1850, Meucci and his wife moved to the United States. Although he had to start over, a creative mind always finds a way! Meucci built a tallow candle factory which was actually the first of its kind in the US. Some wonderful years followed between 1856 and 1870 when Meucci developed more than 30 types of telephone patents based on his prototype.