Our not quite comprehensive guide to identification of many Edison, Victor, Columbia and other talking machines and phonographs ca.

In late 1915, Edison began its famous Tone Tests, which featured artists alternating their live performance on a darkened stage with that on the disc in front of large audiences, challenging them to detect a difference.

In April-May 1918 an unspecified number of cherrywood cabinets were made.

Metal parts were nickel-plated Cost: Introduction 150 in October of 1917, then 160 from January 1918 to 175 September of 1918 History: Cylinders peaked in popularity around 1905.

After this, discs and disc players, most notably the Victrolas, began to dominate the market.

Columbia Records, an Edison competitor, had stopped marketing cylinders in 1912.

The Edison Company had been fully devoted to cylinder phonographs, but, concerned with discs rising popularity, Edison associates began developing their own disc player and discs in secret.

Dr. Jonas Aylsworth, chief chemist for Edison, and later after his retirement in 1903, a consultant for the company, took charge of developing a plastic material for the discs.

The aim was to produce a superior-sounding disc that would outperform the rivals shellac records, which were prone to wear and warping.

Another difference from competitors discs was that the vertical-cut method was to be used for the grooves.

In this manner, the stylus would bob up and down in the groove, rather than from side to side or laterally.

Ten-inch records would run for 5 minutes per side at approximately 80 r.p.m.

Although Edison associates initially worked on the project in secret, when Edison discovered it, he took control of this new project and gave it much of his personal attention.

Aylsworth molded phenol and formaldehyde mixed with wood-flour and a solvent into a heat-resistant disc.

This material always remained absolutely plane (flat), which was essential as it formed the core of the disc record.

A phenolic resin varnish called Condensite was applied to the core, and then the disc was stamped in the record press.

The finished 10 disc weighed ten ounces, heavier than most, partially due to the 14 thickness of the record.

By the end of 1912, three basic models of the Edison Disc Phonograph had been designed, ranging in price from 150 to 250, and the company salesmen took them around the country.

Prices for the discs ranged from 1.15 to 4.25, but later were changed to 1.35 to 2.25.

The discs were expensive to make because of the complicated chemical processes used for them.

Initial public reaction was not encouraging for several reasons.

The Edison cabinets were deemed to be less attractive than the Victrolas, and customers were required to buy Edison discs only for Edison players, since they were not compatible with other players.

The laminated surface of the discs also had a tendency to detach from the core material, and surface noise was frequently apparent, which contradicted the aim of perfection that the company was trying to achieve with its recordings.

Still, the phonographs and discs were touted as being acoustically better than those of the competitors.

In order to bolster claims of superiority, Edison claimed that his records could be played 1,000 times without wear.

Recitals were also conducted to prove the merit of the discs.

Brunswick Phonograph Serial Numbers