Light tan cylinder - what is it?

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KCW
Victor II
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Light tan cylinder - what is it?

Post by KCW »

I bought this cylinder off eBay because I thought it looked unusual. Does anyone have any idea what this is? I’m thinking it is a home recording. I’ve never seen a cylinder this color before.

It came in a gold mounded case. It seems to be in pretty good shape. I don’t think the recording is modern. The person speaking seems to talk about being an undertaker and at one point talks about “preparing a body.”

Any assistance in the era of this type of cylinder would be greatly appreciated. I have one more home recording of a little girl singing with accompanying piano. These are such fascinating bits of cylinder history! Photos and video of it playing in my reliable Edison standard.
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VanEpsFan1914
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Re: Light tan cylinder - what is it?

Post by VanEpsFan1914 »

Careful now with that Model C reproducer; you'll shred the grooves.

That takes a Model B, Automatic, or Columbia floating reproducer. These are "Brown wax" cylinders.

As for the date think late 1800s to 1910s. I have no idea when Edison quit selling 2-minute blanks. But if you want to preserve these play them with the proper reproducer. They are priceless fragments of the past--but the same wax formula that let them be recorded at home also made them a bit difficult to play on the regular Edison phonograph!

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phonogfp
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Re: Light tan cylinder - what is it?

Post by phonogfp »

How about a picture of the non-beveled end?

George P.

KCW
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Re: Light tan cylinder - what is it?

Post by KCW »

Here’s the photos. I’m wondering if there is a way to get a professional digital recording made so it might be possible to figure out what exactly is being said. It’s very difficult. Interested in any other information anyone else can contribute. Thank you! What an adventure!

KCW
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Re: Light tan cylinder - what is it?

Post by KCW »

Photos
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KCW
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Re: Light tan cylinder - what is it?

Post by KCW »

Also, thank you for the reproducer advice. I’ve got an automatic and will try it in my Standard. Do you anticipate it will sound any better? I don’t have a model B and on eBay it looks like they’re about 200$. Not sure if that’s worth having, but the ones listed are reported as the “heavier models”. Would it be worth investing for playing brown wax?

Also, still looking for resources for someone who can make a high quality digital copy for audio analysis. Suggestions welcome!

KCW
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Re: Light tan cylinder - what is it?

Post by KCW »

Has anyone donated to the UCSB archive before? I’m thinking of doing so as a way of getting a good recording of this done and preserving the content for posterity, sounds like 100$ to archive. Thoughts and feedback appreciated!

AllenKoe
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Re: Light tan cylinder - what is it?

Post by AllenKoe »

Very interesting... can you tell (up close) how the ribs on this brown wax are made?

That is, is it one continuous "rib" from beginning to end? Or is it TWO spiral ribs, interleaved?

Or are "they" (the ribs) parallel, with each rib separate from the other? There is a chronology to these details.

Allen

KCW
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Re: Light tan cylinder - what is it?

Post by KCW »

Just checked - looks like this is one continuous spiral. What is the significance? Thank you so much for all the information! I’ve written the UCSB cylinder archive but haven’t heard back from them. Any other ideas in getting a quality digital copy made so it can be analyzed and we can figure out what exactly is being said?

recordmaker
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Re: Light tan cylinder - what is it?

Post by recordmaker »

Great to hear this

Pretty much not commercial but a good home recording. The blank (being so light in colour) is possibly pretty early 1890s but the recording could be later of course, the level and clarity suggest an automatic recorder if an Edison machine was used.

A pity the cylinder does not go on quite far enough to hear the full punchline of the joke however possibly don't play it again at end as the repetition will wear that bit out.

I cant spare the time to put it down word for word but its clear enough.

To show the skill of a good undertaker he tells the story is of a man who is naturally deprived of his hair from a young age and wears wig, but to the frustration of his wife, and despite all her attempts to help her husband put the wig on and fix it the wig is always a bit to the left or the right or the back or the front.
Now after many years of this the man dies and the undertaker invites the widow to view the prepared copse on the counter of his funeral parlor and she is impressed with peaceful natural look of the corpse and thanks the undertaker for his work.
A few days later she is passing the funeral parlor and is struck with a burning question to ask Mr Jones the undertaker and is frustrated to hear that he is out of town, not to be deterred she asks the assistant if he was involved in laying out her husbands body and the assistant replies yes, well she says I really must know what type of screw or fastening you use to get his wig to stay on straight?

There were books of humorous recitations like this available in the late 1800s so it may be published item the delivery is dry and is typical of drawing you in to it being true until the punchline rather than a run of funny remarks.

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