Cylinder of the Month


See also the  Cylinders of the Month Archive.

Hear a turn-of-the-previous-century homemade recording presenting a Christmas gift of a new phonograph.

Christmas gift of a phonograph
 
Company Homemade
Cylinder # None
Category Talking
Title Christmas gift of a phonograph
Performed by Unknown
Circa 1899-1901
Announcement "Presentation speech."
 

This is a charming one-of-a-kind recording made by a father (possibly grandfather) for playback on Christmas day during the presentation to his children of the gift of a "graphophone".   The Graphophone was the Columbia Phonograph Company's name for their cylinder phonographs.

There are many interesting and remarkable facets to this recording, including the speaker's advice on how to use "this wonderful invention": It works best when warm; tap the horn if the sound grows faint.

To hear the Christmas gift of a phonograph  —

 
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— This cylinder is from the collection of The Library of Congress —

                                       

To hear other examples of wax cylinders, see the