The NPS releases historic wax cylinder audio
I love old audio recordings. My 78rpm record collection and love of home-recorded albums speak to that, so this thrills me to no end.
Wooden box used by Wangemann to carry the 1889-90 wax cylinders. Photo credit: National Park Service.
A few months back I had read about the recent discovery of Theo Wangemann’s recordings in a cabinet at Thomas Edison’s laboratory.
Theo Wangemann was hired by Edison in 1888 to figure out how to market the new wax cylinder phonograph.
From the New York Times article about the discovery: “In June 1889, Edison sent Wangemann to Europe, initially to ensure that the phonograph at the Paris World’s Fair remained in working order. After Paris, Wangemann toured his native Germany, recording musical artists and often visiting the homes of prominent members of society who were fascinated with the talking machine.”
Now the National Park Service has released all the digitized recordings.
Read more, and listen to the recordings at the National Park Service website
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