When collecting records, we can only hope that each record we acquire plays well enough so we can enjoy its contents. Collecting acoustic era recordings does not always guarantee this, as they are the oldest commercial records. While it can be beyond disappointing to come across a record we have been searching for only to find it is barely audible because of its condition, there is something to take away from this. It is extremely difficult to determine which records were the most popular before 1910, but a record in bad condition can tell us a story a mint copy cannot.
In 2018, I found an incredible box of 24 brown wax cylinders at an antique store in Oakland. This was a legendary find. It included 24 handwritten paper slips with titles, and it was in its original cardboard box. Since they were all brown wax, none of them could be identified until played. Several of them were cracked and two broke into large pieces. I bought them nonetheless. The trip back home from the place was over an hour train ride, so it was nerve-wracking.
As I started playing them and matching the slips to their records, some were in good condition, but others had an unusual problem when played. The material within was varied and well curated. Many different artists were represented, and were all dated between 1895 and 1899. If you have at all experienced brown wax cylinders, you’ll know they were made of
