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There is a local auction with 21 cylinder phonograph records. There are 4 edison blanks with some edge mold on the outside edges and 7 or 8 pink lambert records. What are pink lambert records and are they worth bidding on? They didn't seem to fit on a standard phonograph mandril, are they made for another company's machine? The records are in great shape, but I don't know anything about that brand. Any help would be most appreciated.
Dave

Dave, those Lambert records are quite rare and definitely worth bidding on. Over the past few years, I have seen them on eBay fetch between $200 - $400 each. Ten years ago I sold ten for $200 each.

The celluloid Lamberts often shrink a tiny bit until they won't quite fit on a standard Edison mandrel. You just have to ream the title end a little bit to fit.

The Lamberts were made starting in 1900 and only for a few years. The ones I had varied in color from a faint pink to a crimson red. They are prone to fading and so those uniform in color all the way around should be worth more. Even in good condition, they tend to be a bit noisier than later celluloid cylinders. The last Lamberts were colored black, or "ebony" as the company called them.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R4 ... te=1&rt=nc

Wow, I didn't realize that. Thanks for the info.
Dave

You should definitely go after these records. If you ever have to ream a Lambert cylinder, be careful. Never use a Blue Amberol reamer as the sandpaper is to coarse for the pure celluloid. You can use fine 600 grain sand paper by hand and quickly check whether it will fit or not.

Some Lambert cylinders are already so shrunken, that they will not play on many Edison phonographs as the reproducer's tolerance is too little. Only Columbia phonographs and others with floating reproducers can still play these. The best way to store Lambert cylinders is an air-tight box or plastic bag, so that the camphor cannot further evaporate.

Earlier pink Lambert cylinders are thicker than the later ones, have a white title end and usually three wedges underneath. The end was welded to the cylinder. The later pinks are thinner (to safe celluloid) and are made from one piece, no wedges. This was the only court case that Edison partially won against Lambert, so he had to get rid of them.

Very interesting. Thank you for the information.
Dave

Pink Lamberts, or any other color, are definitely worth having but as has been said, they will cost you. You may get lucky at a local auction - it just depends on who else might have noticed them.
I have one black Lambert which I did ream with a BA reamer, but I had to work slowly and carefully because the reamer would tend to jam if I tried to work too quickly. I was successful and the record plays very well.
The various colors of Lamberts are shown in one of the Fabrizio/Paul books. I don't know where offhand but perhaps George will chime in with chapter and verse.

Jim

Thanks for all the help. I am going to send a friend over, she is closer than I, and get some pictures for me. I'll post them and you can see what you think and if they are the real deal.
Dave

One other note. You will sometimes find Lamberts that have a white plaster of Paris core. These were sold in the UK by the Edison Bell company but find their way over here sometimes. The plaster is usually pretty sturdy and can help prevent the kind of shrinkage that others have described.

Here are some titles. There are 8 pink and 8 black and 5 Edison brown wax blanks.
I want to make sure these are the real deal before I bid. Thanks for all the help and info.
Dave

The pink ones are the later style, made from one piece of thinner celluloid. Good Old Summer Time is certainly sung by Harry MacDonough. The really appear to be quite nice. If possible, check them if they are badly warped. This can happen sometimes and is a nasty drawback. The raised letter black Lamberts are nowhere near as high valued as the pink ones, just in case you considering your bids. These go usually for anything between $40-90, only occasionally higher with some wanted selections. The black Lamberts are also much more brittle and appear to shrink faster.

The Edison-Bell cylinders were indeed made on the behalf of Lambert and sometimes have say "Edison-Bell" on the opposite end in small raised letters. The plaster of paris cores were only used sometimes. I have found the same selection on a brown Edison-Bell Indestructible with and without a core. It really slows down shrinkage significantly but is questionable to the celluloid, which then tends to split one day, just as many Blue Amberols.

Just to compare, here are two examples of a brown Edison-Bell Indestructible and an earlier pink Lambert with the white title end and three inner wedges: