Re: Brown Wax cylinders More destroyed now than ever!
Posted: Thu May 10, 2018 12:06 pm
This issue is another one that boils down
to the old adage: "Follow the Money"
The way I think of brown wax cylinders is that
there are still plenty of originals out there.
They turn up from time to time. One in good
condition with recognizable tunes on it, of
course fetches a relatively high price.
Most though are all moldy. OK, granted that at
some time in the distant future (maybe) there will
be some sort of technology for guessing at, and filling
in missing words and/or music that is suspected of
being on some moldy old brown wax cylinders.
The real question is: Is it worth the time and
effort to preserve all of these seemingly hopelessly
molded-up noisy scratchy old brown wax cylinders
in some hope of "someday" recovering (some) information
from them?
Or, does it make more sense to just shave them
and get down to reasonably quiet wax so that they
can be re-used now to make new recordings upon?
A lot of times, that option yields a useful
brown wax blank which is an original blank, and it
costs less money than a brand new one!
Follow the money.
I am quite sure that all of the armchair railfans
had a huge fit years ago when hundreds of perfectly
workable steam locomotives were cut up for scrap.
They probably whined and cried the blues about
"how unthinkable" that is. But the railroads
wanted to cash in on the scrap value so they cut
them up.
Instead of crying bloody murder, the best option would
have been for the complaining parties to purchase
one of these locomotives to save it from being scrapped.
A few were actually saved this way.
So hey, it's called "free enterprise".
For those who feel strongly about saving all the
moldy old brown wax cylinders, then by all means
buy them all up and save them in a temperature and
humidity controlled nitrogen atmosphere!
All it takes is money, and lots of it!
to the old adage: "Follow the Money"
The way I think of brown wax cylinders is that
there are still plenty of originals out there.
They turn up from time to time. One in good
condition with recognizable tunes on it, of
course fetches a relatively high price.
Most though are all moldy. OK, granted that at
some time in the distant future (maybe) there will
be some sort of technology for guessing at, and filling
in missing words and/or music that is suspected of
being on some moldy old brown wax cylinders.
The real question is: Is it worth the time and
effort to preserve all of these seemingly hopelessly
molded-up noisy scratchy old brown wax cylinders
in some hope of "someday" recovering (some) information
from them?
Or, does it make more sense to just shave them
and get down to reasonably quiet wax so that they
can be re-used now to make new recordings upon?
A lot of times, that option yields a useful
brown wax blank which is an original blank, and it
costs less money than a brand new one!
Follow the money.
I am quite sure that all of the armchair railfans
had a huge fit years ago when hundreds of perfectly
workable steam locomotives were cut up for scrap.
They probably whined and cried the blues about
"how unthinkable" that is. But the railroads
wanted to cash in on the scrap value so they cut
them up.
Instead of crying bloody murder, the best option would
have been for the complaining parties to purchase
one of these locomotives to save it from being scrapped.
A few were actually saved this way.
So hey, it's called "free enterprise".
For those who feel strongly about saving all the
moldy old brown wax cylinders, then by all means
buy them all up and save them in a temperature and
humidity controlled nitrogen atmosphere!
All it takes is money, and lots of it!