While Edison’s company was producing the cylinder records, the first in 1887. Berliner Gramophone was the first company to produce disc “flat records” by Emile Berliner in 1889 and sold in Europe. These records were only five inches in diameter and were leased to toy companies that made toy phonographs.
A quick reference to Edison's cylinder records: (Minutes/dates manufactured) |
In 1893, Berliner commercialize the record. His company offered the first 7 inch disc in 1894 on the Berliner Gramophone label. From there on, many companies took on the flat disc as the standard record to use for their phonographs. Edison, on the other hand, kept his cylinder records in production for many years thereafter.
Edison would patent his "Diamond Disc", a vertical cut flat disc record. This record was not playable on machines other than his own brand. Diamond Discs are easy to recognize. They're about 1/4 inch thick, 10 inches in diameter and usually have Edison's Face embossed or printed on a paper label. See below.
Edison later produced his own Needle Cut 78rpm record discs to compete with Victor and others, but by this time, his company lost a huge share of the market.
Easy to understand timeline of some of the history of the record. 1887 - Edison invents the first cylinder record. 1889 - Emile Berliner invents the first flat disc record. Five inches in diameter. 1890 - Edison Brown wax cylinders emerge under North American Phonograph Company. Takes on Columbia cylinder and Berliner Flat disc. 120-160rpm. Shortly after, Pathé records were being produced in France (mostly French) as two different sizes, 2.25 inch and 3.5 inch Salon cylinders. Although popular in Europe, very few migrated over to the states. 1890 to 1903, Edison Bell Consolidated Phonograph Company in England produces and becomes England’s largest cylinder manufacturer. Their patents gave them control over most aspects of manufacturing and selling cylinder records and phonographs in England. 1894 - Berliner creates the single-sided seven inch disc and continues to build upon his invention.
1898 - Concert cylinders, large brown wax, sold by both Columbia and Edison. 120rpm, then 144rpm in 1899 and 160rpm in 1902. Edison produced the Concert until 1911. 1901 to 1905 - Lambert cylinders, manufactured by Lambert Co. of Chicago, came in shades of pink colour as well as purple, brown and black. They were the first cylinders made of celluloid. Known today as Pink Lamberts to collectors. 1902 - Edison's Gold Moulded process was developed. Trace levels of the metal were applied as a conductive agent in creating the initial mould from the master. 160rpm. Lasted 1.5-2.5 minutes. Columbia adopts the Gold Moulded process for their records. Edison Grand Concert series was released as the “B” series and continued onto the 4 Minute Amberol records. Edison recorded and released cylinders from offices in London, Paris, and Berlin. Foreign cylinders issued in the United States in series such as Edison's British, Bohemian, French, German, Swedish, and Norwegian series, cylinders were also recorded and manufactured overseas in several Euro markets. 1902 - Edison Chinese recordings emerge in San Francisco, mainly for the US market. 1902 to 1912 - Edison produces German records, Edison Goldguss Walze 1903 - Patents of Edison Bell expired. The industry was open to its competition. Many record manufacturers and retail companies are born. 1904 - Sterling Records was founded in 1904 by Louis Sterling, an American who had moved to England . He was employed by the British Zonophone Co. Sterling cylinders are typically about 1/4" longer than standard cylinders. 1904 - Busy-Bee cylinders were manufactured by the O'Neill-James Co. of Chicago. Made both cylinders and discs, often with content licensed from other companies. 1904 to 1909 - Edison French recordings from Paris, Cylindres Edison Moulés Sur Or 1905 - Columbia releases a series of six inch long cylinders, 3 minutes long. Only 189 titles issued. 1907 - The Industructible Phonograph Co. of Albany, NY, produces moulded celluloid 2M & 4M cylinders. Both issued as Industructible Record label for Sears record line, Oxford. 1908 to 1912 - Industructible Records distributed by Columbia Phonograph Co. 1908 to 1912 - The U.S. Phonograph Company of Cleveland, Ohio, produced celluloid 2M & 4M cylinders under its own label, U.S. Everlasting Record and also as Lakeside Label for Montgomery Ward department stores. At the time, these were superior in sound quality to most others. 1908 - Amberol cylinder doubled the threads per inch, making it a 4 minute record. Machines had to be retrofitted to play these new longer playing records. 1909 - Amberola 1A was introduced, able to play both 2M and 4M cylinders with a flip of a switch. 1909 - Columbia stopped production of cylinders. Moves onto all flat disc format. 1912 - Blue Amberol introduced, celluloid-based Indestructible cylinders. Shrinkage and deformation over time have rendered the cylinders difficult to play. Fought the emerging dominance of the disc record. 1914 - Edison ceases production of cylinders. Produced blank Brown cylinders into the 1950s. 1915 - Edison introduced the Diamond Disc record, his own version of the flat disc record, although, not needle cut like its competition. 1929 - Edison Records closes
Different Genres of records to be found on records: |
There were literally hundreds of record companies, producing flat disc and cylinders, during the phonograph industry boom. Some of the more successful labels of the time were Victor and Columbia. With the race to sign new artists their label, many small companies were developed. Most smaller companies eventually went out of business or were bought up by larger record companies. Victor was one of the first to see the importance in assigning contracts with musical artists, making them exclusive to the record label.
All images are for educational purposes only.
All images are for educational purposes only.
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