The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Calling all Edison DD fans,

Can anyone tell me what machine these Edison albums were made for (perhaps one with a lower, open shelf --- like the Edison A-100), or were they just sold as auxiliary Diamond Disc storage for use outside of a phonograph cabinet, or??? Each album holds ten Diamond Disc records. "PEERLESS ALBUM, PATENT APPLIED FOR" is embossed on the outside of the back cover.

The pulls on the album spines are missing --- can anyone supply a good photo of what the originals look like?

I have not tried to remove the adhesive-backed number stickers on the spines, as I don't know if they are original to these albums or just an addition courtesy of a former owner (perhaps gold-embossed letters are beneath each sticker?).

Thanks for any help or ideas,
Bob

As far as I know, they fit in the rack of a C-150.

I have a set like that but mine say "Re-Creations" instead of Records. I know that Edison started calling Diamond Discs Re-Creations in the teens, on the sleeves, until March of 1923 when Edison dumped the Re-Creation name for just "Record". So I know my albums were made prior to March, 1923. The older style Edison albums were in the form of dark blue portfolios that just say Edison Records on the spine, and did not have sleeves. Those were the kind I've seen in ads for the A150 and A100 machines. So I think our albums were intended to be placed on a bookshelf. Since yours say "Records", they were probably made after March of 1923. My albums also have ten sleeves that are numbered, but there is no publisher name given, just the usual directions on how to index your records with page, record number, title, and artist on the inside front cover. Also mine do not have the spine "buttons" on the front side of the album board like yours. Another difference is my albums pulls are placed horizontally, while yours appear to have been placed vertically.

I believe they are for a C-150 as Whiskydale said.

For what it's worth, here is another variation of Edison Diamond Disc albums, this time with metal pull rings.

http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... =9&t=13274

Best wishes, Mark

I've seen these here and there over the years, and do not believe they are Edison products. Yes, they fit the wire rack in the C-150, but so do many other things. Here is my reasoning behind the conclusion that they are after-market items:

- Edison loved the signature logo, and it is everywhere it will fit on every Edison product. So why not on these? Because they are likely not Edison products or licensed by Edison.

- There would certainly have been a market for typical sleeved albums, equipped with larger sleeves to accommodate the thicker diamond discs.

- Edison marketed the dark blue record boxes, as an extra-cost option, for use on C-150 and the shelved early small machines. They're boxes for a reason: albums would not be stable enough on the open shelves. The boxes appear in Edison catalogs until the time the shelved machines disappeared. Later C-150s have the typical storage slots in place of the wire racks.

- I don't believe any DD albums ever appear in any Edison catalog.

- The Edison record boxes are an exact fit for the C-150 wire rack, whereas the subject albums are not. I have found two C-150s with the boxes included, but the only albums I've found have been loose.

I'm actually surprised that more albums don't turn up that somehow convey that DDs will fit in them. Maybe dealers just told people which ones would work, when shoppers asked.


P.S. Ok I'm a doofus. They say "Peerless" on them. So obviously not Edison. Geez, sorry.

I think you may be right about that. My Re-Creations albums don't say Peerless in them, but they don't say "Made by the Edison Co." either. But, shooting your theory down a bit is the fact that the old dark blue portfolio albums that were advertised by Edison to go under the A-150 and A-100 machines don't have his signature logo either. They just say "EDISON RECORDS" in block letters on the spine. The only albums that do have the Edison logo embossed on the front boards are the ones made for the Edison C-2 radio/phono in 1928. I think that all of these Edison albums were just farmed out to a book binder factory and ordered with not a lot of thought put into "logos". I think the albums were mostly sold as accessories in Edison dealer stores that sold Diamond Discs.

Here are some examples of some "Re-Creations" Diamond Disc Album Holders for comparison..

It looks like there were a couple different designs...Maybe even some aftermarket producers of them

Tony K.

Edison Collector/Restorer

thanks for including those albums here. I've never seen those ones before. It's odd that they were made to only hold six DD's. On the inside board, what are those things that look like file cabinets?

Thanks for all of the replies to my post! It's great to see all of this information, and album variations, documented in one place!

I noticed the albums shown here http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... =9&t=13274 have 16 sleeves for Edison DDs --- that is a lot of weight in a full album! And I thought the early, metal pull ring albums (16 or 17 record capacity per album) used by Victor were excessively heavy when full!

Below, from the albums featured in the OP, is a pic of the embossing on the outside of the back cover stating "PEERLESS ALBUM, PATENT APPLIED FOR" .

Thanks again for everyone's help,
Bob