The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I've never seen a cylinder this color before. (I'm talking about the one on the lower left, of course.) I assume it's brown wax, but it's much, much lighter than any brown wax cylinder I've ever come across, even just in pictures. There's no case, so I can't get any clues from that, and this is the only picture I have. Can anyone tell me anything about it, or even offer a good hypothesis? Thank you all.

I cannot enlarge the image, but the clockwise spiral suggests a Columbia record from around 1900. Many Columbia cylinders from the 1899-1900 period seem to be light like that one. Of course, playing it should remove all doubt...

Here's a box of Columbia records I found about 20 years ago:

George P .

Wow, nice find, George! I have seen a number of them in that caramel color, but the one in the picture (which I don't own) looks more like alabaster. Did Columbias sometimes come out like that? It doesn't appear to be mold.

I've seen a few (and own a few) whose color approaches alabaster, although none could be called quite that light. I've also seen modern-day blanks made which are virtually white.

Again, playing the announcement should explain all.

George P .