The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Whatever happened to the molds for original cylinders? Did any of them survive? There must be some of them out there. What did they even look like? Very interested to learn more about this. It would be interesting to manufacture a modern cylinder from an original mold.

I vaguely recall hearing that the Ford Museum has some but I could be wrong. I'm pretty sure anything Edison had was destroyed or sold for scrap when they closed the phonograph business.

Norman B. issued a very small number of reproduction Blue Amberols of a Sophie Tucker title that was not originally out on Blue Amberol. I think that was made from an original mold. I remember a discussion noting that the diameter was slightly larger than usual. I have no idea where the mold came from.

The bulk of cylinder molds of music and other entertainment subjects were scrapped for the metal content and even the master molds seem not have found a home, a few Edison ones were put aside either due to experimental interest or some sort of other in house significance.
I have handled one 2 min Columbia mold and have processed one Blue Amberol mold to provide new records.

The majority of other existing molds, I believe, are held by the Berlin phonograph archive with ethnographic material collected from about 1910 to 1938.
some 200+ of theses molds also exist in the national library of Norway and I made copies from all these a few years back for them ,the subjects of these included songs of the Cree tribe of Canada and material from arctic circle communities.

A copper cylinder mould kept in a dry place can be good for many years and if such molds exist the fact that the detail is in metal and on the inside means that there is a fair chance that it can be used.

The diamond disc moulds were saved wholesale and apparently exist in quantity possibly due to Mr H Ford

The Edison DD masters were saved and are/were at the Henry Ford Museum (part of The Henry Ford) in Dearborn, Michigan. It seems that they were transferred to the Edison National Historic Site in New Jersey a while back but I'm not sure. The museum also has at least 1 wax disc master on display.

Jim

My guess is that a great many of us have seen the Edison cylinder molds at Donley's Midwest Phonograph Museum, which was where the Union, IL phono show was held for decades. I believe that Larry Donley got them from famous Edison dealer Clarence Ferguson.

Jim Nichol

I sold my Edison Blue Amberol cylinder mold and cylinder for $3K at the 2017 Donley auction. I bought both in the latter 1970's from Bill Endlein. (I think Bill had access to some items from Edison's West Orange factory, since he lived near there at the time). The cylinder was recorded for the Ediphone with 150 grooves per inch, instead of a regular Blue Amberol at 200. The recording is kind of a sales pitch for Ediphones, and I believe there was an corresponding Ediphone convention to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the phonograph. Perhaps Ediphone dealers were given copies, since it was meant to be played on an Ediphone.

Jim Nichol

Click on the photos TWICE to really enlarge them. This helps in reading the text on the rim.

Jim Nichol

Thanks for posting! So cool to see this, it would be incredible to try to make a cylinder from one of these molds, has anyone ever tried it? I wonder how they used to do it originally? We’re they all done by hand or was it automated somehow?

Wow... even marked "EXP. 7-10-29."

Must have been one of the last Blue Amberols made... "EXP." -most likely meaning "Experimental" ....??? Would think so..

I know of this cylinder and have seen it before..

)

Tony K.

even marked "EXP. 7-10-29."

The expiration date, after which, they would self destruct... That's why there aren't many left...