Historical information
Phonograph cylinders are the earliest commercial medium for recording and reproducing sound. Commonly known simply as "records" , these hollow cylindrical objects have an audio recording engraved on the outside surface, which can be reproduced when they are played on a mechanical cylinder phonograph.
The "Gold-Moulded" process was developed in 1902 and involved creating a metal mould from a wax master; a brown wax blank would be placed inside and heated . as the blank expanded, the grooves would be pressed into the blank which would then be cooled. The "gold" is derived from the traces of that metal used as a conductive agent in the initial mould.
"Whistler and his Dog" was performed by the Edison Military Band.
Significance
Edison Records was one of the earliest record labels which pioneered sound recording and reproduction and was important in the early recording industry.
Gold Moulded records used a process that Edison had developed, that allowed a mould to be made from a master cylinder which then permitted the production of several hundred cylinders to be made from the mould. Previously cylinders were recorded live or by hooking two machine together to copy from one cylinder to another, and they used softer brown wax which wore out in as few as twenty playings.
Gold Moulded Records were discontinued in 1912.
Physical description
A cardboard cylindrical record container. It is an Edison Gold Moulded Record container. The label has red and gold print and a photo Thomas A. Edison.
Inscriptions & markings
Hand-written on lid - Whistler & His Dog
References
- cylinder preservation Link to a collection of 5000 recordings - electronic ressource.
