Brown Wax Cylinders

[Zenger]

Greetings. I have acquired a number of brown wax cylinders over the years, and with them a bunch of questions, which I have been saving up for a post. Here they are:

1. Without the original cases and/or title slips, and absent an announced title (in my experience, not all cylinders from this era have them), how can I tell the difference between a Columbia and an Edison brown wax cylinder? Do the inner grooves look different? The rims? Anything?

2. With the same qualifiers: How can I tell the difference between a studio recording and a home recording? (Some home recordings I have heard sound at least somewhat professional.)

3. I have some studio cylinders that are dark brown but are playable with an Edison C or a Columbia Lyric reproducer. What are these?

4. Were many more Columbia brown wax cylinders made than Edison? Almost every identifiable one I have is a Columbia.

5. In what years were they produced?

6. Are brown wax cylinders more susceptible to mold than black wax? In my experience, for every 10 brown wax cylinders I have found, 7 or 8 are totally covered in thick white mold.

My apologies if some of these questions have been addressed elsewhere before, but I couldn't find relevant threads, and I would find it very helpful to have all this information in one place.

Thank you all for your help!

[phonograph guy3435]

to answer your question on telling between edison and columbia, to the best of my memory columbia has 1 inner spiral and columbia has 2. this is reversed on concert cylinders of each brand though. with edison brown wax and columbia brown wax numbers, i have definitely seen many more columbia than edison, but im not too sure why that is. i hope you found this helpful

[Zenger]

Thank you, that is helpful. I'm having trouble, though, telling the difference between a single and a double spiral. Perhaps I'm looking at it the wrong way; can anyone post pictures of the two that might give me some clarity? And any thoughts on any of my other questions? All efforts are appreciated.

Thanks again!

[phonograph guy3435]

i just checked again i mispoke. sorry. to correct my last post columbia has 1 spiral and edison has 2.

[shopdoc]

Greetings. I have acquired a number of brown wax cylinders over the years, and with them a bunch of questions, which I have been saving up for a post. Here they are:

1. Without the original cases and/or title slips, and absent an announced title (in my experience, not all cylinders from this era have them), how can I tell the difference between a Columbia and an Edison brown wax cylinder? Do the inner grooves look different? The rims? Anything?

2. With the same qualifiers: How can I tell the difference between a studio recording and a home recording? (Some home recordings I have heard sound at least somewhat professional.)

3. I have some studio cylinders that are dark brown but are playable with an Edison C or a Columbia Lyric reproducer. What are these?

4. Were many more Columbia brown wax cylinders made than Edison? Almost every identifiable one I have is a Columbia.

5. In what years were they produced?

6. Are brown wax cylinders more susceptible to mold than black wax? In my experience, for every 10 brown wax cylinders I have found, 7 or 8 are totally covered in thick white mold.

My apologies if some of these questions have been addressed elsewhere before, but I couldn't find relevant threads, and I would find it very helpful to have all this information in one place.

Thank you all for your help!

Unfortunately, no answers, just more questions.

7. Can light white spots be cleaned off a brown wax record or should they be left?

8. Does anyone have pictures of original brown wax boxes? I know they are supposed to be plain and varied, but I'd love to see examples from knowledgeable people/

[phonogfp]

8. Does anyone have pictures of original brown wax boxes? I know they are supposed to be plain and varied, but I'd love to see examples from knowledgeable people/

Here's chronology of American Columbia cylinder boxes: https://forum.antiquephono.org/topic/25 ... hronology/

Here's a chronology of American Edison cylinder boxes: https://forum.antiquephono.org/topic/34 ... hronology/

George P.

[shopdoc]

8. Does anyone have pictures of original brown wax boxes? I know they are supposed to be plain and varied, but I'd love to see examples from knowledgeable people/

Here's chronology of American Columbia cylinder boxes: https://forum.antiquephono.org/topic/25 ... hronology/

Here's a chronology of American Edison cylinder boxes: https://forum.antiquephono.org/topic/34 ... hronology/

George P.

Wow. Thank you so much.

[phonogfp]

You're very welcome.

George P.