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Phonograph cylinder recording from German New Guinea on August 23, 1904, recorded by German anthropologist Rudolf Pöch.
Cylinders were sold in cardboard tubes, with cardboard lids at each end. These containers helped to protect the recordings. These containers and the shape of the cylinders (together with the "tinny" sound of early records compared to live music) prompted bandleader John Philip Sousa to deride the records as canned music (though that did not stop him recording on cylinders).
In the early days, record companies usually had a generic printed label on the outside of the cylinder package, with no indication of the identity of the individual recording inside. Small paper inserts with the recording information were placed inside the package with the cylinders. At first this was hand written or typed on each slip, but printed versions became more common once cylinders of certain songs were sold in large enough quantities to make this economically practical. The cylinder itself usually had a spoken announcement of the title of the recording together with the artist(s) and often the record company itself. Note that in the example in the image below, from Edison Records, 1902, the consumer is invited to cut out the circle with printed information. This paper circle could then be pasted either to the lid of the cylinder container, or (as this example prompts) to a spindle for this cylinder in specially built cabinets for holding cylinder records which were marketed by record companies. Only a minority of cylinder record customers purchased such cabinets, however. Slightly later, the record number was stamped on the top lid, then a bit later the title and artist of the recording were printed on to labels on the lid. Shortly after the start of the 20th century, an abbreviated version of this information (together with the name of the record company) was printed or impressed on to one edge of the cylinder itself.
“A commercial society whose members are essentially ascetic and indifferent in social ritual has to be provided with blueprints and specifications for evoking the right tone for every occasion.” —Marshall McLuhan (1911–1980)