The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I have both black and gray versions of Ada Jones singing "By the Light of the Silvery Moon". Same number, same recording, different colors.

Below is a Quartette recording of Over There Indestructible (in this case Oxford) 3412 with original box. One of those battle ship gray cylinders. So it dates around 1917. To me this cylinder lacks clarity that an Edison does, however the bass response is very good. I would like to know more about what the studio was like, that these were recorded in, the equipment, the interior of the factory. I supposed since none of this interests collectors it is lost .

It is my understanding that the blue Indestructibles were client pressings for sears or Montgomery Ward. The Oxfords may have been sold by Sears, as Oxford was a Sears label for discs.

Jim

edisonphonoworks wrote, "I would like to know more about what the studio was like, that these were recorded in, the equipment, the interior of the factory. I supposed since none of this interests collectors it is lost."

I don't know why you assume that "none of this interests collectors," but a better explanation about why the information you seek is hard to come by is that the factory, at least, of the Indestructible Phonograph Record Co. was destroyed in a fire in 1922. I assume you already know that.

However, I don't know if Indestructible's recording studio was within their factory. Some of the information you ask about might be covered in the book, mentioned earlier in this thread by Pathé Logical: "Indestructible and U-S Everlasting Cylinders, an Illustrated History and Cylinderography"

… which is available here:

http://www.mainspringpress.com/book_indestructible.html

Best wishes, Mark

Thanks! I bookmarked the book,and hope to get it. Yes I know it was destroyed by fire. I remember it being pointed out where it was in Albany, when I was there. It is just so frustrating nailing down recording information on how it was done.

I'd like to know where Inderstructible's factory was also.Later they changed their name to Federal.I don't know but were Federal's disc records pressed in the same factory?I have a few Federal discs.edisonplayer

Yes, they were pressed at the same factory at 240 Hamilton Street in Albany, NY. The location is now part of the Empire State Plaza. Recording studios were in NYC, but I don't have the exact location on hand at the moment. A couple of years ago or so, I found a photo of the factory and posted it here, but nobody was interested, even though I've never seen another photo of it anywhere.

Sean

Sean, if you are referring to this thread where you posted the photos of the factory:

http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... +NY#p93129

… it seems to me people were interested, indeed.

For myself, though, I couldn't figure out from the photos which building the factory was. That doesn't lessen my appreciation for your posting, however.

Best wishes, Mark

I agree with Mark: having nothing substantive to add does not necessarily denote lack of interest.

I copied one of the photos Sean posted in the 2014 thread, and selectively focused on the Indestructible Record factory:
The factory is the large building just beneath the leftmost tower of the Capitol Building.

George P.

Thank you, George, for clarifying (for me at least) which building was the (so-called) Indestructible factory, and thank you Sean, again, for posting the photo originally. I guess they didn't have very strict zoning laws in Albany back then; that fire must've affected a lot of homes, and maybe endangered the capitol itself.

For reasons I can't explain, George's version with the factory image sharpened and the rest of the cityscape slightly blurred makes the scene look like a model train set to me.

Best wishes, Mark