4 minute wax cylinder records

[bobkolba]

I have almost 90% of the 1147 titles issued and am trying to fill in the voids. Would like to find 84, 147, 326, 340, 388 and 392. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Jerry B.]

Getting a full set of 4-mix wax would be quite a accomplishment. I'd make a friendly suggestion that you place a "wanted" ad in the Trader section of this forum and read the guidelines first. Good luck on your search. Jerry Blais

[edisonphonoworks]

I would also suggest digitizing your collection for the future. The compound as I am sure are aware is very unstable, it has hardened to the point where you don't even have to touch them, and they shatter. I hope others chime in, but having a complete set comes with duties, that must be filled and transcribing them is one of them, they contain some selections not found anywhere else. Illinois for instance is not a place to obtain wax Amberol records, the environment will not permit there keep. Just taking them from the box, and placing them on a phonograph mandrel can spell disaster, a little to hot a little too cold and pop!

[Victrolacollector]

I would also suggest digitizing your collection for the future. The compound as I am sure are aware is very unstable, it has hardened to the point where you don't even have to touch them, and they shatter. I hope others chime in, but having a complete set comes with duties, that must be filled and transcribing them is one of them, they contain some selections not found anywhere else. Illinois for instance is not a place to obtain wax Amberol records, the environment will not permit there keep. Just taking them from the box, and placing them on a phonograph mandrel can spell disaster, a little to hot a little too cold and pop!

You are correct, and I was so happy to see that Norman at Berlin was able to release a nice copy of Sophie Tucker "Some of these days". I have had Wax Amberols that just sit in their box on a shelf, go back and find them either broken or shattered, they even shatter on the mandrel under what seems to be average room temperature. In addition to Illinois to be the place not to buy them or even use them, I would add that Indiana is really the same. They just don't hold up to all of the extreme changes in temperatures in the constant changes in temperatures including the humidity.

I do often wonder which state is the best for having wax amberols?

I think it is great that people are collecting them, its just that they do have to be handled and stored super carefully, for that matter that is why I stopped collecting them.

[NEFaurora]

Wow... 90% of a 4-Minute Wax "Damnberol" collection is quite an accomplishment. You should be proud...

While we are on the subject, Does anyone know of anyone who has collected all of the Edison 1902 Gold Molded 2M cylinders and maybe all of the Black Columbia 2M cylinders??? I would think any completion of Edison or Columbia Brown waxes would be next to impossible.. Anyone know if anyone has completed collections of those?

)

Tony K.

Edison Collector/Restorer

[FellowCollector]

Would like to find 84, 147, 326, 340, 388 and 392. Any help is greatly appreciated.

I have a large collection of these as well and would be willing to help if I can but listing catalog numbers without title and artist is almost meaningless to me. And I'm too lazy to try to locate my Edison Amberol cylinder listing by number to look up the titles/artists. On the other hand, if I see (or read) a record title and artist that someone is looking for I can almost always rely on my memory to immediately tell me whether that selection is in the collection.

[phonojim]

84 - A Vision of Salome American Symphony Orch.
147 - Hear Ye Israel Edith Chapman
326 - Redhead Ada Jones
340 - From Time To Time Thomas Chalmers
388 - Master Mason Degree Dirge Male Quartette
392 - Watermelon Party Polk Miller's Old South Quartette

Information from "Edison Cylinder Records 1889 -1912" by Allen Koenigsburg

[edisonplayer]

I'd LOVE to find a copy of Edison wax Amberol 574,"By The Light Of The Silvery Moon Medley",played by New York Military Band.I got it when I bought my Triumph model E from Jerry Donnell in 2010.Sadly,it got broken edisonplayer

[wtt11]

Divert a bit. Are they really subject to crack? I have several and they are very sturdy though. Is that only because I'm lucky?? I store them under no special environment.

[edisonphonoworks]

I am also interested in the early, flat end Gold Moulded Edison's, they are not prone so much to cracks as they are to mold from being wrapped in cotton batting. I wold like to hear more of them. I notice that prior to about 1903, vocal selections are usually accompanied by a piano. And Solo instruments accompanied by a Piano, then band selections, a band. Am I guessing correctly, by late 1903,1904 bands started to accompany vocalists. It probably is because prior to 1903 a standard recorder slightly modified was used,however still similar to a standard Edison recorder (some have weighted rubber pieces in the stem of the recorder, and other modifications.) and about 1903, the trailing recorder such as Norman and I have was used, that use an advance ball to make records, and could accept more dynamics and range.