A napkin ring cylinder is a format of phonograph cylinder manufactured and marketed by the Columbia Phonograph Company in 1904 and 1905. They were of standard diameter, but only measured 1.5 inches in length.[1] Primarily they were marketed for home recordings, at one-third the price of a standard-length cylinder, to be placed in a "voice album",[2] where family members or visitors to a home could leave a 30-second message, and a place was made on the container lid in which a photograph(s) of the individual(s) making the recording could be placed.[3] As well, the napkin ring cylinders were generally used as a marketing tool at the 1904 St. Louis Exposition and the 1905 Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition[1] where visitors to Columbia's booth were given the opportunity to make, and be given, a record without charge.[4] On occasion, a record made by an entertainer at the booth could be acquired instead. Surviving examples are very scarce.[4]
Some of the very earliest wax cylinder records were also noted to have been similar in dimension to a napkin ring.[5]
References
edit- ^ a b Sage, Glenn (May 2005). "Cylinder of the Month". Tinfoil.com. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
- ^ Marty, Daniel (1981). The Illustrated History of Phonographs. New York: Dorset Press. p. 26. ISBN 0-88029-388-8.
- ^ Fabrizio, Timothy C.; Paul, George F. (2005). The Talking Machine: An Illustrated Compendium 1877-1929. Schiffer Publishing. p. 149. ISBN 9780764322402.
- ^ a b "Columbia at the 1904 World's Fair". New Amberola Graphic: 103. 1997.
- ^ Hubert, Philip G. (February 1, 1889). "The New Talking Machines". The Atlantic. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
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