Show us your cylinder record "trays"!

[Fran604g]

Hiya folks,

 

I recently acquired a very rare, presumably "Columbia", cylinder record carrying tray, and would love to see what others may have as a comparison or maybe even a "registry" here. I've only seen one other in person that I recall (George P.'s), but I've read about and viewed images of this accessory in Fabrizio/Paul's The Illustrated Talking Machine Compendium - 2nd ed. (image 3-43), and in Shawn O'Rourke's June, 2020 TAP article, "I Saw it in the Catalog: Record Storage".

 

All three of these are different in one way or the other, and none resemble the image provided in the various Columbia catalogs I searched.

 

I commenced to cleaning a few days ago, but realized (if maybe not a little bit later than I would prefer), that although the wooden base appears to have been a very light colored wood (poplar?) under the pegs when I removed them, this tray was obviously stained, and not so much dark from being dirty.  Whether this was done at the factory, or at some point later by someone who possessed it is unknown to me. It does however, after careful examination, appear to have always been finished in this dark stain. The odd thing is, it seems it was stained/finished after it had been assembled. The handle and pegs appear to be oak, or some other hardwood. At the base of each peg is a rubber "cushion" for the records, and it originally had 3 (presumably) rubber feet on the bottom of the base, according to the 3 brad-like holes in the base. The letters "L E B" are scratched into the base between the numbers 6 & 7. Also, the numbers are black over white paint - I assume so that they contrast against the dark finish. All 8 numbers are nearly intact except for no. 1 and a partially eradicated no. 4.

 

I welcome comments, and additional photos of others' would be great!

 

Cheers,

Fran

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 30, 2020 by Fran604g

[phonogfp]

Fran,

 

The variations in these humble yet rare accessories are interesting.  Mine is pictured below.  Note the difference in the shape of the handle, construction (your pegs screwed in from above - mine from below), and of course the numbers.

 

George P.

 

 

[Fran604g]

Thank you George for posting images of yours. Very different for sure, but equally interesting.

 

I'm left wondering if any have survived that are identical to the Columbia "...convenient rack or stand for holding eight cylinders..." as shown in their catalogs? Below is a scan of their rack from a reprint of their November 1898 catalog.

 

The variations I've seen seem to at least suggest the possibility of different manufacturers(?) may have been involved with production.

 

I can't imagine we'll ever actually know who (if) those may have been.

 

Cheers,

Fran

 

Edited October 31, 2020 by Fran604g
punctuation

[Neilvanstem]

Thanks all for posting the photos. I have never run across anything like them other wise I'd own one myself! Thanks and fascinating and interesting. Neil

[phonogfp]

5 hours ago, Fran604g said:

The variations I've seen seem to at least suggest the possibility of different manufacturers(?) may have been involved with production.

 

I don't know for sure, but the wooden pegs (both types) look identical to those Hawthorne & Sheble installed in some of its cylinder cabinets.  Since H&S provided most of the accessories found in Columbia catalogs, my suspicion is that H&S manufactured these.

 

George P.

[Fran604g]

10 hours ago, phonogfp said:

I don't know for sure, but the wooden pegs (both types) look identical to those Hawthorne & Sheble installed in some of its cylinder cabinets.  Since H&S provided most of the accessories found in Columbia catalogs, my suspicion is that H&S manufactured these.

 

George P.

George, do you have any Hawthorne and Sheble catalogs corresponding to the period these "racks" were being sold? It would be interesting to see if other entities were marketing them.

 

For a small wood shop/cabinet/furniture operation, it would be so simple to produce them.

[phonogfp]

5 hours ago, Fran604g said:

George, do you have any Hawthorne and Sheble catalogs corresponding to the period these "racks" were being sold? It would be interesting to see if other entities were marketing them.

 

For a small wood shop/cabinet/furniture operation, it would be so simple to produce them.

 

I have three H&S catalogs from the 1901-1907 period, but these record racks do NOT appear in them.  That would suggest that H&S did not make them, but it should be noted that Columbia was the only U.S. company offering 6-inch cylinders and machines to play them during this period, so the potential market for H&S (at least for a rack accommodating 6-inch cylinders) would have been limited to Columbia customers.  Beats me...

 

George P.

[Fran604g]

Thanks George. And what about our buddy Tom? One would think his company would have sold something handy for their dictation stations...

[phonogfp]

1 hour ago, Fran604g said:

Thanks George. And what about our buddy Tom? One would think his company would have sold something handy for their dictation stations...

 

Until mid 1905 and the introduction of the Edison Business Phonograph, Edison didn't offer a machine capable of playing 6-inch cylinders.  I don't recall ever seeing anything like these racks in North American or Edison catalogs.

 

George P.

[Fran604g]

7 minutes ago, phonogfp said:

 

Until mid 1905 and the introduction of the Edison Business Phonograph, Edison didn't offer a machine capable of playing 6-inch cylinders.  I don't recall ever seeing anything like these racks in North American or Edison catalogs.

 

George P.

I haven't found any "rack" similar to this in any of the Edison catalogs I have, either. I realize Columbia was the primary entity producing the 6" business cylinders at the time, I'm not really concentrating on those. These racks seem to have little or no consideration for those with their short pegs, and maybe that clue indicates a primary use for the industry "standard" length records? Also, given the home recording (or studios for that matter) craze, I would've found one of these most handy. ? There are so many obvious differences to the rack shown in the Columbia catalogs that I'm led to question whether these were produced by/for them.

 

I love a good mystery.

 

Cheers,

Fran

[RodPickett]

Here are a couple more photos, similar design.

[Fran604g]

Very nice, Rod, thank you! Both are very interesting, and I note neither base is circular.

 

Cheers,

Fran