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Collecting Edison Cylinders - Yearning for Playback
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Edison Recording #9622
Many music lovers prefer an old record over a CD. The younger crowd remembers 8-tracks and cassette tapes. But before vinyl came the Edison Cylinder. The first sound recordings were made available around the turn of the 20th century and could be heard on phonographs everywhere. Everybody is familiar with the trademark dog listening to the record. Well, that’s where it all started. Good old Nipper loved the tunes and so do cylinder collectors.
Before RCA, music was recorded onto hard wax cylinders. The cardboard storage containers along with the records have now become collectible items. It’s possible to obtain tunes like “Take Me Out to the Old Ballgame” (click here for recording) or “Star Spangled Banner”, recorded long before the song was our National Anthem. The phonograph would reproduce the sound of people’s voices and/or instruments by running a stylus across the record grooves. Sound waves would be created and amplified by a horn. In a tribute to the Acoustical Era of music recordings the band They Might Be Giants released the song "I Can Hear You" in 1996. It was recorded without electricity while using an 1898 Phonograph at the Edison Laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey.
The University of California – Santa Barbara Library has managed to create an archive of over 8000 recordings. More information about Cylinders can be found at http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/. Several reference books on the subject of Edison Cylinders are available including:
Edison Cylinder Phonograph Companion, 1877-1929, by George Frow, , Mullholland Press, Inc, 1997, ISBN 0960646612
The Edison Diamond Disc Phonographs and the Diamond Discs, by George Frow, Mullholland Press, Inc., 2001, ISBN 0-9606466-3-4
Edison Blue Amberol Recordings, 1912-1914, by Ron Dethlefson, 2nd ed, Mullholland Press, Inc., ISBN 0960646639
Edison Cylinder Records, 1889-1912, With an Illustrated History of the Phonograph, by Allen Koenigsberg
Most records can be obtained for less than five bucks so it’s an affordable hobby. However, a working player may set you back a few hundred to several thousand dollars. So, if you’re a music fan and want to startup a new collection be sure to consider the Edison Cylinder!
