Edison’s diamond discs Records

Have you ever been to an antique shop or estate sale and seen a really thick, heavy record with Thomas Edison’s picture on the label? Some of these records are quite rare and can bring hundreds of dollars on eBay.

Edison’s first creations were the wax cylinders that were played with a needle stylus connected to a small horn and were cranked with a handle to play. You may have seen some of the models that had a great big “morning glory” horn. They usually had a beautiful oak case with a lid. There was even an adaptation to “record” on the cylinder.

These thick records were marketed from 1912-1929. Manufacturing processes varied on materials that were readily available during the war and depression era. These were often made of wood flour and china clay. Never get these records soaking wet; you must be very careful when cleaning them.

These discs were called diamond disks because they could only be played properly on diamond disc machines produced exclusively by Edison and the stylus that played the record was actually made of diamond, not steel as the other victrola type machines of the day such as Victor, Columbia and Pathe. Some of the Pathe’s can only be played with a sapphire ball stylus. You can find adapters to put on the Edison machines to play the other kinds of records, but the quality is not as good. Another thing about the Edison discs is that the groove process he used allowed his records to play longer.

Edison did not keep up with market trends of the day, preferring old-timey songs and ballads instead of the jazz craze that was sweeping the nation. If you find the jazz discs, they are usually the most valuable because Edison wasn’t crazy about them. Some of his records simply stated “Soprano” or “Tenor” on them instead of an artist’s name so he didn’t have to change the labels on the records!

You will often find these records to be one sided or the later ones that were two sided. Labels varied as well as Edison experimented with the process to stamp or adhere them to the record itself.

Edison records went out of business the day before the stock market crash. He failed to keep up with the technology of the day and by the time he switched to the thin shellac records that had been electronically recorded, it was too late. These records are great for decorating if they have been worn out from playing!

Happy Collecting!

Jillinda Falen has been buying and selling antiques for over 30 years. She is a licensed REALTOR and estate liquidation specialist. You can contact her through the HHJ or via email at jcfalen@gmail.com.

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