"DARKIES TEMPTATION" 1897 Columbia Brown Wax Cylinder By SOUSA on Graphophone Type AT Phonograph

[@michaelpreston233]

I've recently purchased one of these machines and it plays just a good as it did in 1900.

[@nickv1008]

But how do you know?

[@Wolfganger]

@@nickv1008He probably doesn’t mean it literally, just that it plays very well.

[@victrolaman]

Columbia made the mostly ornately magnificent cabinets of that time period. What an amazing horn. Amazing in its rarity, and also in the fact that something that large, and antiquated, survived all these years without being destroyed. Thanks for sharing this with us. Victrolaman

[@Michtario]

And the worlds first rock song was born! I absolutely love your Graphophone. It's in pristine condition.

[@MarkMphonoman]

Very ornate cabinet on this Graphophone. Never saw a horn like this one. Pretty unique.

[@jednpep]

What a beautiful machine!

[@MrGer2295]

WONDERFUL ! Thank you for posting.

[@eclecticdufus]

Did I hear crickets chirping before the cylinder begins? This is my 2nd time with this video and it's every bit as enjoyable as the first time. A hardy survivor of 115 years!

[@NippersLounge]

Very nice machine, and interesting horn! Like the record as well.

[@transformingArt]

Very intersting - as always. Thanks for sharing this video with us!

[@MrKEGreene]

Great song, wonderful machine and a truly magnificent horn!!! That any of the floor standing horns survive is rare. That such a magnificent wooden horn survives is very unique. Thanks so much for posting it here for us to enjoy.

[@digitalblasphemy1100]

beautiful, everything in this video was just amazing! thank you for adding some history! we would love to know more about these unique machines!

[@AulicExclusiva]

Amazing graphophone, in terrific condition! Very interesting video. Thanks.

[@debarghyaroy9948]

As a layman I believe this is in pristine condition. As gurss what? I loved every bit of the music. It's awesome!

[@MusicBoxBoy]

@madebyJake12 Thanks for the nice comments! The dots on the brown wax cylinder are very light spots of mold. Thankfully they have very little impact on play and overall condition of the cylinder. It is extremely common to find some sort of mold on these 112+ year old cylinders. I keep all of my wax cylinders in a climate controlled room.

[@MarkMphonoman]

Pretty fancy case, must have been one their top cylinder machines.

[@JR3059]

Beautiful machine, that. Amazing to have survived so well. Love Columbia's play on words, "Graphophone" :))

[@oldbear52]

Thanks for sharing this piece of mechanical music history!!!

[@MusicBoxBoy]

Thank you for the great comments. I'm pleased that you enjoyed this. I was truly stunned when I found this horn years ago - especially in its fine original condition.

[@Frenk160rpm]

What a gorgeous machine! Good sound, nice selection! Thanks for sharing!

[@gramaphoneman1]

This recording was not made before March 1898 because that's when the Paris office opened. All 1897 Columbia recordings said "New York City" only with no mention of Paris. These are rare. New York and Paris announced ones were made until the beginning of 1900 when the London office was opened and then they said, "New York and London".

[@oldradiosnphonographs]

Very interesting fact!

[@wndy7073]

I noticed a fair-amount of 'dead-air' at the beginning 😮‍💨

[@eclecticdufus]

I have never seen a horn like that even in the Fabrizio books. What an amazing rarity. The cylinder sounds very good for a nice "NYC & Paris" Columbia. It's a treat to hear it on that contemporary vintage machine. The minor old mold spots don't affect it a bit.

[@EdisonSquirrel]

What a beautiful phonograph, Doug. It's always magical to hear a Columbia brown wax cylinder with the "New York and Paris" announcement.

[@CurzonRoad]

Whoa... amazing horn! Terrific reproduction... Thank you! Cheers, etc. Doug --

[@Turkeydoodlers]

That's one of the nicest machines I ever seen on here, and I have seen lots lol very nice

[@MusicBoxBoy]

@Lucius1958 This AT came directly from the original owner's estate and all provenance from the descendants (which I do believe) is that it is just as it was purchased when new. And the early wax cylinders which accompanied it were in like new condition as well.

[@SavTotallyRocks1]

Phonographs are so utterly fascinating. Growing up in the nineties I used to be enthralled with these types of things. How they played music through them is still a bit of a mystery but geez. This along with your music box melodies...no wonder folks were so mellow back then.

[@aljmann]

Did you grow up in the 18 or 19 90’s? 🤣

[@thomasisland1]

Wax recording music is at its best and still is at its best. Too bad they don’t make them as good anymore because I’d be more than happy to listen to classical music on these useful cylinders. It makes you laugh, it makes you cry, it gets you going and they become pieces you can’t get out of your mind.

[@MusicBoxBoy]

@Turkeydoodlers Thanks Turkeydoodlers. Your comments are always sincerely appreciated. I too was really impressed when I saw the condition of this very early Graphophone. I actually had to look very closely to make certain that it had not been redone. I was pleased to realize that it was completely original and was obviously used very little and well cared for.

[@antiquefreak3128]

Columbia's are awesome looking phonographs. I have never seen this horn before. I was too focused on collecting cygnet horns.

[@edithsmith7478]

So if I had waited on some information I see that probably most machines did have a top. Perhaps the inside mahogany in some was for looks and the outside oak was for durability. And the horn was stored separately. Now please explain about the wax cylinders. You do a great job with introductory information and also videography. Thank you so much.

[@TubbyBellyScratcher]

I'm glad I came here

[@MusicBoxBoy]

@Frenk160rpm Thanks for the nice comments! Good to hear that you enjoyed this.

[@MusicBoxBoy]

@CurzonRoad Thanks for the great comments, Doug! Good to hear that you enjoyed this and you are very welcome.

[@MusicBoxBoy]

@EdisonSquirrel Great to hear from you again, Rocky. It's been a while! Good to hear that you enjoyed this. I really enjoy all of the early brown wax cylinders including the "New York and Paris" ones as they typically have a bit more volume than earlier brown wax cylinders and there are some interesting titles in that era as well. Thanks for your comments.

[@Kennephone]

This is actually an 1898 cylinder, Columbia didn't open up shop in Paris until then.

[@MusicBoxBoy]

@transformingArt You are very welcome. Thanks for the nice comments!

[@MusicBoxBoy]

@JR3059 Thanks! I was also impressed at how well this machine was preserved when I first saw it. Hard to find them in this condition.

[@MusicBoxBoy]

Thanks. Your comments are much appreciated.

[@MusicBoxBoy]

@victrolaman You are most welcome, Victrolaman. Always a real pleasure to see a comment from a fellow phonograph collectror who also appreciates the history and some of the more interesting and elusive details of early recorded music and early phonographs. Stop in again anytime.

[@MusicBoxBoy]

@oldbear52 You are most welcome. Thanks for your comment!

[@underzog]

This is good music, too.

[@MusicBoxBoy]

@jednpep Thank you for the nice comment!

[@MusicBoxBoy]

@mayatatyana1 Thanks Maya! Always a pleasure to hear from you. You are very welcome!

[@madebyJake12]

what a treat to hear such a old historic record! love the introduction of the records. what are the white dots on the record?

[@Altchannel2988]

Mold from over the years being stored in a damp or humid environment

[@Altchannel2988]

Lol I’m 9 years late sorry

[@gramaphoneman1]

Yes, the Columbia Graphophone office in Paris, France was opened in March of 1898. There were no records made with the announcement, "New York & Paris" before March 1898. All 1897 recordings simply state, "New York City" These are far more uncommon. The recording playing could even be late 1899 due to the extreme volume.

[@jhorne18]

Nothing short of fascinating. I hope you digitized the song, which, itself is intruiguing, given the title and reflecting the culture at the time. Too, it is interesting to note that the technology - a needle vibrating in conformance with the grooves is not substantially different in theory from LP records, and now video discs.

[@brucestinchcomb6673]

New York and Paris is 1898-1899. 1897 is (predominantly) New York city. Possibly some late 1897 Columbia brown wax cylinders may say New York and Paris.

[@louiemarelinon6937]

Does the wax cylender wear off by time if you always play it

[@eclecticdufus]

Nice and loud! I just acquired a Col. machine but it hangs up and repeats grooves until the second half of the record. The carriage assembly seems really stiff and does not slide easily. Would lubrication take care of that or is it something more dire like a swollen metal part? Thnaks.

[@kirtley2010]

you dont live in a house, you live in a museum

[@Borriaudio]

Very nice cylinder, and Graphophone, Does this machine have a mica or glass diaphragm?

[@neilfranklin5644]

Hey that were good , this is a real single as only 1 track on it.

[@Lucius1958]

@MusicBoxBoy You might post some pictures on the Talking Machine Forum: it might make an interesting topic......

[@SayanChakraborty-h4l]

Whats the price of graphophone

[@Michtario]

By any chance do you know what could cause a graphophone to skip? I have a model AA. When I try to play a cylinder all it does is skip like a broken record. It does this to every cylinder. If I manually help the reproducer move down the cylinder it plays fine. Could the gears just need to be greased up or is it something wrong with the reproducer itself?

[@Wichtelchen2006]

Reason 1: Some record players follow an internal threaded axis and doesn't "look" to the spacing of the grooves on the cylinder. In contrast, modern record players just follow the given groove of the record. Propably that internal threaded rod is warped so the needle movement doesn't match the groove of the cylinder anymore.. It will end up in jumping every few cycles :-). Reason 2: The horn isn't heavy enough or the mechanics (especially those responsitive for moving the horn) aren't greased enough so the horn staggers over the groove. Reason 3: The mechanics are worn out so the horn isn't exactly adjusted anymore and is tilted. Reason 4: All your cylinders are worn out or warped so the grooves aren't "good enough" anymore. Like a heavy scratched record played at modern record player. If helping the horn to read down the cylinder helps there, it sounds like reason 2 or 3 so you might be right. You should fix that. Otherwise, the cylinders can be damaged by that skipping. :-)

[@EwicoCylinder]

Is this the horn for the macchine?

[@Lucius1958]

I'm rather intrigued by that AT..... I have never seen an AT with Washington-style decals on the upper works: I should have thought they'd used those up on the early New York A's. And the fact that it has a 'New York - Paris' decal on the case is odd - unless that's a reproduction: as far as I know, that decal wasn't used until at least 1899 (I have an AT myself, which I would estimate to be from late '98 / early '99; it has the earlier 'Broadway' decal).

[@Wichtelchen2006]

Can you digitalize this cylinder in a higher quality? Without moving around the camera during playback and using a better microphone?

[@johnlevin2368]

Playing brown wax cylinders on early machines is generally considered to be destructive, even when those machines are intended for this purpose. In this case, the machine's reproducer has an elevated tracking force to extract enough mechanical energy to power a horn (instead of the listening tubes used on earlier machines). Every play degrades this artifact.

[@oldradiosnphonographs]

Interesting. So I should listen to my 1898 Columbia Eagle with a stethoscope and not a horn? I don’t have many brown wax records in my collection. That would certainly help tracking old recordings too. But I thought playing brown wax on LATER machines with the Model C/Lyric reproducer when gold molded black wax was what ruined them?

[@tropicalhorizongaming5459]

Its so strange how these worked

[@josiahdittman9365]

its sad that people are shaving down original brown wax cylinders there all special because there all recorded on there own there was no copying on brown wax cylinders

[@gramaphoneman1]

1898 or 1899. Not 1897.

[@mpinkkm]

Minha mãe escutava e dançava, marchinhas de carnaval em um "gramofone" semelhante. Por favor, não perguntem minha idade, é feio!!! Hehehe

[@jeffbecker8716]

Well OK then. Crank that up at your local BLM rally.