The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I used to find descent wax cylinder recordings on eBay for a reasonable price. Now I do not see very many Edison wax cylinder records for sale. Are they becoming extinct?

That's a good observation. However, I have seen plenty of nice wax cylinders at the Wayne show this October. Maybe there is a reluctance to sell them by mail due to the risk of damage?

It would be interesting to see a bar graph (magically developed) depicting the annual attrition rate of records from, say, 1950 to the present. I suspect the annual rate began increasing with the rise of eBay. Fragile records + inexperienced packers = destruction.

George P.

I also saw a lot of wax cylinders at the past Wayne show. I personally had at least 500 cylinders on my tables of which at least half were 2-min wax cylinders mostly in excellent condition priced at $5.00. Sold a lot.

Rich Gordon

phonogfp wrote:It would be interesting to see a bar graph (magically developed) depicting the annual attrition rate of records from, say, 1950 to the present. I suspect the annual rate began increasing with the rise of eBay. Fragile records + inexperienced packers = destruction.

George P.

Not just wax cylinders either George. I'm pretty sure rare 78s, machines, pretty much anything fragile is being destroyed at a higher rate due to the increase in mailing by inexperienced packers.

I don't think ANY cylinder records are in short supply. Judging by the hundreds of them at each Stanton auction, I'm convinced that every cylinder record ever made is still in existence. (Except the one I crushed in the hatchback door of my 1980 Mercury Capri before I even had the chance to play it.)

It wouldn't surprise me if cylinders have had much more attrition than 78s of the same period, just because the players have become somewhat rare, while turntables with a 78 speed, and 78-friendly cartridges, continue to be made to this day. I would think the lack of backward compatibility, and people throwing away their cylinders as "useless" especially before they were valuable antiques, are more to blame than modern day breakage of anything besides exploding wax Amberols.

I collect the vast majority of my old records from flea markets and people unloading them by the hundreds on craigslist, but it seems very infrequent that cylinders show up in either of those settings. Not having a cylinder phonograph, I wouldn't buy them when I see them, but with the unique exception of Brimfield, where as many places had cylinders as discs, it seems like 100 vendors have 78s (and ten have 78s worth buying) for every one that has even a single cylinder.

^ Same. I might once in awhile run across the little stash of the ubiquitous Blue Amberol or some (probably) moldy black wax cylinders (probably) missing lids and / or boxes, someplace. Nothing really worth getting excited over. But I'm not talking of dealer / collector shows and the like either. Just CL, antique stores, charity shops, etc. I pretty much assume it's a worthless pursuit looking for cylinders there. But in pursuing 78's, I do still keep an eye out for cylinders anyway, just in case. Someday, I'm going to find that hidden stash of minty Pink Lamberts, right ?

Wolfe wrote:^ Same. I might once in awhile run across the little stash of the ubiquitous Blue Amberol or some (probably) moldy black wax cylinders (probably) missing lids and / or boxes, someplace. Nothing really worth getting excited over. But I'm not talking of dealer / collector shows and the like either. Just CL, antique stores, charity shops, etc. I pretty much assume it's a worthless pursuit looking for cylinders there. But in pursuing 78's, I do still keep an eye out for cylinders anyway, just in case. Someday, I'm going to find that hidden stash of minty Pink Lamberts, right ?

Yes! Pink Lamberts