Archival Storage of Cylinders
The "Amberol" plastic of the cylinders is molded around a core of plaster. This plaster core has proved the greatest problem with long-term survival of Blue Amberol Records, as the plaster often tends to expand over the decades, especially if exposed to moisture or kept in humid conditions. The expanding plaster in less severe cases can make the inside of the record not fit properly on the phonograph mandrel (which can be fairly easily remedied by reaming the inner surface of the cylinder out), or can warp the cylinder out of round making it not play properly. In worse cases, the expanding plaster will crack or split the plastic playing surface, rendering the record unusable.
The Blue Amberol plastic is highly flammable since it is nitrocellulose. Being an organic plastic, celluloid is also capable of decomposition, although this phenomenon in Amberols is rare to nil. Not all Blue Amberols were made of celluloid. Some were made of blue Bakelite, and Bakelite cylinders do not have these problems.
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