Phonograph Cylinder - Hard Plastic Cylinders

Hard Plastic Cylinders

See also: Blue Amberol Records and Edison Records

In 1900, Thomas B Lambert was granted a patent that described a process for mass producing cylinders made from celluloid, an early hard plastic (though in fact Henri Lioret of France was producing celluloid cylinders as early as 1893). That same year, the Lambert Company of Chicago began mass marketing cylinder records made of the new material, that would not break if dropped and could be played thousands of times without wearing out, though the choice of the bright pink color of early cylinders may have been a marketing error. The color was changed to black in 1903 though brown and blue cylinders were also produced. The cylinders were colored because the colored dye layer reduced the surface noise. The hard inflexible material could not be shaved and recorded over unlike wax cylinders, but had the advantage of being a nearly permanent record.

Such "Indestructible" style cylinders are arguably the most durable form of sound recording produced in the entire era of analog audio before the introduction of digital audio; they can withstand a greater number of playbacks before wearing out than later media such as the vinyl record or audio tape. The celuloid material shrinks with the passing years. A typical lambert cylinder will have shrunk by approximately 3 millimetres in length in the 100 years or so since their manufacture (the actual amount is very dependent on storage conditions). Thus the grooves will no longer be 100 per inch and the cylinder will skip if played. The diameter will also have shrunk and many cylinders will no longer fit on a phonograph mandrel unless (very carefully) reamed to fit. Such cylinders can still be played quite satisfactorily on suitable modern equipment. The Lambert company was put out of business in 1906 due to repeated actions from Edison for patent infingement (which Lambert had not actually committed - it was the cost of defending the actions that eventually sank Lambert).

This superior technology was licensed by a few companies including the Indestructable Record Company in 1906 and Columbia Phonograph Company in 1908. The Edison-Bell company in Europe had separately licensed the technology and were able to market Edison's titles in both wax (popular series) and celluloid (indestructible series). Lambert was able to license the process because the patent was not owned by the now defunct Lambert Company, but by Lambert himself.

Edison had introduced wax cylinders that played for nominally 4 minutes (instead of the usual 2) in 1909 under the Amberol brand. These were made from a harder (and more easily breakable) form of wax to withstand the smaller stylus used to play them. The longer playing time was achieved by shrinking the groove size and spacing them twice as close together. In 1912, the Edison company eventually acquired Lambert's patents to the celloloid technology, and almost immediately started production under a variation of their existing Amberol brand as Edison Blue Amberol Records. These new celluloid recordings were given a core made from plaster of paris. The celluloid material itself was blue in color, but purple was introduced in 1919, "... for more sophisticated selections". The use of the plaster core provided resistance to the shrinkage of the celluloid, but the playing surface is still liable to split if stored in less than ideal conditions. The plaster core itself can deteriorate in conditions that are too damp or too dry. Nevertheless, most Blue Amberol cylinders are, today, quite playable on antique phonographs or modern equipment alike (though the plaster core may need some reaming).

Edison made several designs of phonographs both with internal and external horns for playing these improved cylinder records. The internally horned models were called Amberolas. Edison also marketed its "Fireside" model phonograph with a gearshift and a 'model K' reproducer with two styli that allowed it to play both 2-minute and 4-minute cylinders. Conversion kits were also produced for some of the later model 2 minute phonographs adding a gear change and a second 'model H' reproducer. Thes kits were also shipped with a set of 12 (wax) Amberol cylinders in distinctive orange boxes. The purchaser had no choice as to the titles.