scarce columbia cylinders

[columbiacylinder89]

Maybe somebody knows the answer to this.... Is it me, or are there actually fewer Columbia 2 min. wax cylinders out there? It just seems Edison is all you can find in 2 min. black wax cylinder.

[gramophoneshane]

Thats certainly the case where I live. I would think for every 200 Edison 2M's, I might find one Columbia, and of those, many times the box is empty.
Edisons were obviously more popular, and having Thomas A Edison Ltd's offices, warehouse & showroom in Sydney must have help sales a lot, plus the fact Edisons 2M's were available for a longer period.
In my humble opinion, Columbia wax (and Edison-Bell for that matter) are far more susceptible to mold damage than their Edison counterparts, so that might contribute to lack of survivors these days as well.

[VintageTechnologies]

I think your perception is right. Columbia records cost less and they must have sold millions through Sears and Roebuck, but yet they seem to be less common than the Edisons today. I also think the Columbia wax was more prone to mold and mildew, so fewer have survived.

[edisonphonoworks]

It seems that for the molded records less Columbia survive, but I think more Columbia brown wax survive than Edison brown wax. Yes Columbia's formula probably was not combined hot enough to boil out the glycerine, and olaic acid, and a combination of decomposition of the wax, and being attacked by moisture caused them to be ruined. Making good cylinder wax, is quite a scary proposition, and Edison Phonograph Works was the best. Having the experience making over 3000lbs of the stuff, to make it right teeters on the flash point of combustion! Columbia indeed, from there notes, used lower temperatures than Edison did to make there wax resulting in poor wax. What is strange about Columbia black wax, is that it is just colored black, but is really the simple brown wax formulation of aluminum stearate and paraffin or ceresine. I wrote a detailed article for "In The Groove" on Columbia record formulations probably available in the next issue. I have published the Edison wax discovery experiments, some of my own experiments, and the Columbia formula experiments. I have in my own experiments produced duplicate experiments of the old failed waxes, with similar results, that is I made lead waxes that fogged, waxes that got gooey oily surfaces, stars, streaks and other defects, waxes that were too hard, too soft, brittle, waxes that had layers ect.

[Phototone]

Here in the states, the market (as I understand it) was Columbia products sold well in larger Metro areas, and Edison "owned" the rural market. Now urban areas there is more moving around and more opportunity for people to throw out their old stuff...