Preserving Historical Audio Cylinders
Our family owned and operated shop often gets unique and historical items, but it’s not everyday you get to hear music that was presumed lost to time in the way it was originally intended and on original hardware.
A few weeks ago, we came into possession of an extremely rare and complete 1910 Thomas Edison Fireside Model A Phonograph in working order… with 22 original music and program cylinders dated from 1892 to 1910.
Currently for sale @ auction, we’re recording video of each cylinder playing as long as we have time, with the goal of preserving this audio for another century. The cylinders are very brittle, and must be handled extremely carefully. The pressure it takes to pop a bubble in bubble wrap would crush these cylinders into a literal pile of dust!
An inventory of the recordings discovered and preserved follows:
- Goodbye, Dixie Dear – 9187
- Spring Song – Violin – 7195
- Quintet – The Rosary – 9052
- M. Appari – Marta – (Constantino) – {B(?)/8(?) – Hard to make out.} – 830/B30
- Violin – Spring Song – 7195 (2nd copy, much better condition)
- ~es Fleurs, De Siebel – Faust – Jacobi – B(?)47
- Banjo – Patrol Comique – 2627
- Columbia – Tenor Solo – 32919 (Broken, unfortunately)
- How Firm a Foundation – Mixed Quartet – 10126
- Tenor – Would You Care – 9070
- Won’t You Throw a Kiss to Me – Bar and Ten – Columbia – 33072
- Mixed Quartette – Some Blessed Day – 9735
- Baritone – Any Rags – 8525
- Song – The Moon Has His Eyes on You – 9387
- Quartette – I Wonder if You Miss Me – 9048
- Duet – Softly and Tenderly – 9367
- Quartette – When Daddy Sings the Little Ones to Sleep – 9456
- Cornet – The Secret Polka – 8546
- The Opera – ~indecipherable catalogue number~
- Orchestra – Columbia – Battle of Manilla – 15194
- N Diesen Hell (?) – Hallen De Aurerflote~(?) – (Blass) – B 48
- Tenor – Nobody’s Little Girl – 9539