Great Cylinder Find

[Deleted]

I got lucky today, and found 23 cylinders at antique market! While, wandering through the New Oxford Antique Mall, New Oxford PA. I found two boxes of Edison Gold Moulded cylinders, at $5.00 each. I almost bought them all, but stoped myself, and knew I needed to check them out, to make sure they were good. So I sat down on the floor and looked at every single cylinder. I came away with 23 cylinders, for $121.90. Not a bad find. Not only that, I found a Columbia Cylinder in the lot. Talk about a score! I also found a cylinder I did not recognize? "901. Orchestra Life in Vienna Waltz. Pat'd July 29, '02." Now I don't know if it's 1902? or 2002? I thought I may have found one of Peter Dilg's early Wizard cylinders? But I'm not sure, all have to ask him.

Anyway played them all, and they all sound good, except for one that is really scratchy. It has some brown marks on the recording. I hate play it anymore, duce to the scrathcy sound. So I wound up with one bum cylinder, but eh 22 out of 23 isn't really so bad. I now have 24 Edison Cylinders, 1 Columbia, and one unknown. All and all, a very good day.

[rocky]

Paul, congrats on your new cylinders! Hope you enjoy them!



Rocky

[maroongem]

Paul,

Great score!!! It's nice to find clean 2M wax that aren't all moldy.
BTW, that cylinder #901 is an Indestructible 2M. That is the standard patent date(1902) for those cylinders. You should have no probs playing that cylinder.

Bill

[gramophoneshane]

Paul,
901 was released between july & dec 1908 according to my book. I wouldnt play it too much though with your model C reproducer. These are made of celluloid like a blue amberol, and WILL wear the sapphire stylus.

[maroongem]

Paul,

As Shane says, don't over do it with the sapphire, but when you think of it, there was no other stylus medium when this cylinder was released. So you have to ask yourself what is too much?
If it starts to echo, then you are in troulble!!!!

Bill

[gramophoneshane]

Indestructible must have realise the problem of worn sapphires, and perhaps prompted by the closure of Columbia's cylinder side of the business, started making replacement reproducers for existing machines around 1912/13. It was a tension reproducer with a diamond stylus, so not ever having seen one, I guess it was similar to a Columbia reproducer, and made to fit Columbia machines. I don't know if they would have been made to fit edisons as well.

[Deleted]

Thanks for the inforamtion guys. That's cool, that I have an Indestructible cylinder. The Columbia made it even more worthwhile. A couple of the cylinders are Ada Jones, and I think I have a Billy Murry too? I found a Xylaphone, and banjo solo, a couple of comic songs, and two Vaudville sketch's. One is "A Coon Courtship" Funny how over 100 years ago, that was acceptable. Two of the cylinders look brand new. Which is a surprise. I noticed that the cylinders with a white stamped lable are latter cylinders, and were better made, then those that have just a stamped lable that is black. The Same as with the DD's.

I was not expecting to find this many cylinders, and in good condition. Usually I find just one, and there is a 50/50 chance that it is good. Most of the time they are bad. So finding 23 playable cylinders for me is quite a find indeed, or for anyone. Outside of Ebay. I did find one cylinder in a canister, that was good, but the linning turned green. I'm guessing mold? Anyway, I took that cylinder out, and put it into a better unmoldy canister, to protect the cylinder.


Ever since buying this machine, this is the most I have played it. Usually, I have been playing my disc machine. Since I already have quite a few DD's, I decided to look for more cylinders, for my cylinder machine, because I wanted to build up, my cylinder collection. It's good too know, that I can still find cylinders. Sometimes, you just have to keep going back, until you get lucky, like I did.

[gramophoneshane]

Hi Paul. It's great you finally found a few cylinders at once to play. I find it pretty exciting to have a few lined up to play one after the other for the first time. You never quite know what your in for. The comic songs and vaudeville are some of my favorite finds.-and Ada of course.
When you get a chance, perhaps you could give us a list of titles and record numbers. I don't know the exact number, but somewhere above 10000, they started making some of them out of the same wax as the 4 min amberols. Its good that they don't go mouldy, but you have to be more careful about breakage and wear.
:(I guess we can't have it both ways unfortunately

BTW: Indestructibles aren't really Columbia records. They were made by The Indestructible Phonographic Record Co, in Albany, NY., and struck up a deal with Columbia to make cylinders for Columbia from their opening in 1908. Columbia supplied their own boxes to Albany, so it's not out of place to put an indestructible in a columbia box if its a pre 1913 record. I've got quite a few in Columbia boxes, because it seems cockroaches love the taste of the glue Indestructible used, and most of my indestructible boxes have been stripped clean of their labels.

[Deleted]

Okay, here are the cylinders:

9615: Street Piano Medley
9619: In The Good Old Steamboat Days
8931: Come Take a Trip in My Airship Medley; Xylophone
9577: Poor John Medley
9236: Vaudeville Sketch “Mandy and Her Man”
9567: In the Wildwood where the Blue Bell’s Grew
9396: Draw Me Nearer
8865: The Royal Trumpeters March
9315: Waiting at the Church: Comic Song
9287: Traveling
9198: Will You Love Me In December, ETC.
5013: Ben Bolt
9450: The Bird On Nellie’s Hat: Comic Song
9557: Pretzel Pete
9728: When It’s Moonlight Mary Darling, Etc.
9609: Joyce’s 71st Regiment March
9622: Song and Chorus “Red Wing”
9248: Would Like to Marry You
9928: Comic Song “Hugo”
9695 : Vaudeville Sketch “Coon Courtship”

Indestructible :

901 Life in Vienna Waltz

Columbia:

32560 “Teasing

The Last Cylinder

8141: Midnight Alarm, is my bad cylinder. It’s really scratchy, and some of the recording is lost. It might be mold damage, but there are no white spots, just brown ones. I was looking for with moldy white spots, not brown spots, so I got one bad one. Oh well live and learn. I’ll no better next time.


Paul

[gramophoneshane]

Theres some pretty good songs there! Redwing is great. I like The bird on nellies hat too, I actually like your 2 min version by Helen Trix better than Ada Jones' 4 min recording. Waiting at the church ain't bad either. Have you ever heard Julie Andrews (of Mary Poppins fame) sing this song. She re-recorded it in the 1960's and did a might good job of it too. When its moonlight Mary darling is also one of my favorites.It looks like most of these date from 1906 to 1908. Ben Bolt though, was released in 1902. You did well- especially for $5 each.

[Deleted]

Thanks Shane.

[Deleted]

This is going to be hard to top. I know I won't find a bunch of cylinders, like this for awhile, but it was cool that I did. I would play my cylinder machine more, but setting it up, with that large brass horn is a real pain in the butt. So I am going to have to break down, and buy a reporduction 14" witches hat horn for my machine.

[gramophoneshane]

You never know paul, an even bigger haul could be just around the corner! You'll find the smaller horn more convenient if you have to set up your machine all the time to play it, but boy you'll miss the sound quality of the big horn. Still, it can be a PITA to have to set up everything to play 1 or 2 new cylinders when you bring them home. If you get a 14", you should think about getting a recorder someday too. They are a lot of fun. (you can tell I need to get out more!)

[Deleted]

Thanks Shane.

[Deleted]

Found another Edsion, and Columbia cylinder today. Both $5.00 each, with no mold or pit's. In very good sounding condtion.

Edison 1570 "On the Banks of the Wabash"
Columbia 12516 "Chimeing Bells" (Orchestra Bells) This one is in, it's orginal box.

Had to buy the Columbia, since I do not find those too often.

Paul