The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

phonogfp wrote: Haze away...!

Just for accuracy, I believe it should be 'old man' for more than one reason.

I have a Herzog cabinet that has a front door which swings open to reveal two tall drawers on metal tracks. Both drawers are just a tad taller than two boxed 5" cylinders, and are horizontally dimensioned so that 5 boxed cylinders fit perfectly like the dots on the "5" face on gambling dice. The door has a clever arrangement that lets it act to keep the thing from tipping forward. Thus, the cabinet stores 20 of the beasts, which is way more of those than any one reasonable human should ever require.

Too bad that none of us are reasonable.

I like mine but hardly ever listen to them because they are typically so <yawn> kinda... <zzz...>

(Oops, sorry, nodded off for a sec.)

...oh, yeah: they tend to be boring. I got a whole bunch over the years, and the pattern tends to be that the most boring ones are in the best condition, and the snappy band numbers or other more interesting ones, poorest.

eBay purchases of 5" cylinders are hazardous unless you absolutely lock the seller into proper packing, which entails securely cushioning the cylinder itself - in ALL directions - inside its container (while assuring the playing surface is protected) as well as external protection of the cylinder container. At least 5 times I got a big box, with a perfectly bubble-wrapped object floating in styro peanuts inside. Open the bubble wrap to find a lovely 5" cylinder box inside.

And inside that, what do we find?

Why, a lovely smooth and mold-free caramel 5" cylinder, protected by a felt liner if Edison, and an air-gap if Columbia. And: in quite a few lovingly shattered pieces, because the thing impacted the inside of the box longitudinally if Edison, or because failure of the 100+ year old cardboard center retainer (duh) allowed it to impact the box sides if Columbia. Of course the shippers were always indignant to hear that.

Anyway, I rambled a little.

Back to the original question: The format of my cabinet might be a clue to an easy and almost-authentic solution. It's a lot like a filing cabinet...so...hunt for a nice wooden filing cabinet from the era. Then with judicious removal of any drawer internals that prevent a flat floor to the drawers (many I've seen have a metal rod down the middle and a large rectangular opening in the bottom of each drawer), you have a nice way to store the 5" cylinders.

You can also use a chest of drawers from the era if you find one with drawers that are tall enough.

As referenced by George!

From a 1901 Columbia Catalog.

I was able to purchase an example of the Columbia Unique Cabinet NO 3 which was outfitted to hold 30 grand cylinder's. The pegs to hold the cylinder's were removed. You can see in the fabric drawer lining where the pegs originally were. Does anyone have an example of this style cabinet? I am looking for the exact measurements of the pegs and also would like to know what type of wood they were made out of. Has anyone reproduced these pegs?

Victor z wrote:I was able to purchase an example of the Columbia Unique Cabinet NO 3 which was outfitted to hold 30 grand cylinder's. The pegs to hold the cylinder's were removed. You can see in the fabric drawer lining where the pegs originally were. Does anyone have an example of this style cabinet? I am looking for the exact measurements of the pegs and also would like to know what type of wood they were made out of. Has anyone reproduced these pegs?

By the time the Unique cabinets were introduced, the large pegs may have been made of cardboard, but you can easily tell by looking at your drawers. If there are centered holes for screws, then there was at least a base (possibly wood) to hold the peg. If there's a routed channel, it was a peg made entirely of cardboard. In either event, you might be able to find cardboard tubes in the appropriate diameter, and if necessary cut circular wooden bases for them.

Here's a Columbia box for Grand cylinders. The cardboard pegs measure 3 inches tall x 4 ⅛ inches in diameter.
George P.

I have an excellent example of a number 2 cabinet and would love to have a number 3, like everyone else here. Here's a few pics of mine.
Enjoy!
Joe

Since we're talking about our 5 inch cylinders, might I show mine? I have a 5" salesman double sided cylinder carrying case. It's not in the best shape, but I would hazard a guess that they are also quite rare. She's rather large and bulky.

DGPros wrote:I have a 5" salesman double sided cylinder carrying case. It's not in the best shape, but I would hazard a guess that they are also quite rare. She's rather large and bulky.

They certainly don't show up very often! I have a couple, only one of which I display: They're big and bulky alright. My other one has been sitting in a closet for the past 13 years. I don't think these were salesman sample cases, since Hawthorne & Sheble offered them alongside cases and pasteboard boxes for standard-size cylinders for home use.

If anyone is interested in one of these 5-inch cylinder cases, drop me a PM!

George P.

It looks like the pegs we’re screwed in from the bottom so I was guessing they were made out of wood . The cabinet is not something I want to sell. I am more interested in finding out the measurements of the pegs and have them reproduced. It would be nice to have it back as close to original as possible. I have included a few photos this time. It’s a little hard to see but you can see a color variation in the fabric where the pegs use to be.

Here are a few pictures of my #3 5" cabinet. Pegs are (obviously) reproductions. It took me over 10 years to find this "Concert" cabinet.

Scott