Tagged: 1920s

Formats current at any point during the years 1920-1929

Cabinet card (1863 – early 1920s)

A cabinet card consists of an albumen print (although later cards used matte collodion, gelatin or gelatin bromide paper) mounted on a standard sized card backing of 4¼  by 6½ inches. Like the earlier carte de visite, the card displayed details of the the photographic studio that took the photograph, either below the below the photograph, on the back of the card, or both.

They were introduced in 1863 by a British photographic studio, Windsor & Bridge, and became widely used for portrait photography (initially, they were intended for landscape photography), superseding the smaller carte de visite. Cabinet cards were placed in albums like the carte de visite, although it was a few years before albums specifically for the larger size of cabinet cards became available, or could be placed on stands or in frames for display (often in parlour cabinets, hence the name). They reached a peak in their popularity in the 1880s.

The introduction of the simple and inexpensive Brownie camera by Kodak in 1900, meant home photography became much more affordable and the studio portrait less necessary, but cabinet cards continued to be produced as late as the early 1920s.

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Organ cobs (late 1880s – late 1920s)

Organ cobs or rollers were used in roller organs, and consisted of a cylinder of wood with pins in them that pressed on the keys in the organ to actuate them. Roller organs were a type of reed organ introduced in the late 1880s by the Autophone company of New York, and were an inexpensive and popular means of entertainment for the US market.

The smaller organ cobs could play 20-note roller organs (such as the cheapest Gem Roller Organ), but larger roller organ models (such as the Grand Roller Organ) were also available that could take larger cobs that could actuate 32 notes. Over 1,200 titles were produced on organ cobs.

Cobs were inserted into the roller organ and pinned in position. As the hand crank is turned, the bellows are operated and the cob is turned. As the cob turns, it shifts to the right, and goes through 3 revolutions, providing about a minute of music.

Roller organs were produced until the late 1920s.

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Tintype (1850s – 1930s)

Tintype (front)The tintype (also known as a ferrotype) was a type of photographic process invented in the 1850s that involved using a thin sheet of iron (not tin as the name suggests) as the backing for the image (as opposed  to film, paper, or glass).

Tintypes became popular in the 1860s and 1870s, but were used into the 21st century despite growing competition from prints on paper, and are currently enjoying a revival in interest. Tintypes could be taken outdoors provided the equipment needed to prepare and develop them was at hand. The process was often used at carnivals and fairs for taking inexpensive novelty photographs in a short amount of time, and a photographer could prepare, expose, develop and varnish a tintype plate in a few minutes. The resulting photograph was sturdy and did not require mounting.

Tintype photographs succeeded the ambrotype, which had some similarities. Ambrotypes also used the wet collodion process, but on a piece of glass that was dark in colour or painted with a black backing. The iron used in tintypes was also coloured black, and the resulting image was actually a negative that appeared positive.

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The Bell records (1921 – 1926)

The Bell was a record label issued by the Edison Bell Consolidated Phonograph Co in the UK starting in 1921.

The Bell has previously been used as a label for disc records between 1908 and 1912, but this time it was used for childrens records. Initially, The Bell discs were 5⅜ of an inch in diameter, but this later changed to 6-inches.

By the end of production, some titles were released on the label for adults, including some dance band items recorded specially for The Bell.

The label was discontinued in 1926, but Edison Bell continued to release some 6-inch discs under the Crown label.

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Indestructible Record (1907 – 1922)

Indestructible Records were a type of phonograph cylinder made by the Indestructible Phonographic Co of Albany, New York starting in 1907.

Unlike the competing Edison cylinders (Gold Moulded Records and from 1908, Amberol Records) that were still made of a wax compound, Indestructible Records were made of celluloid making them much more durable. In addition, Indestructable records had a thick cardboard core, and metal rings at both ends.

It wasn’t until 1912 that Edison also began making celluloid cylinders (in the form of Blue Amberol Records).

As well as being sold directly, Indestructible Records were also distributed by Columbia Records, and were available through Sears, Roebuck and Co. under the Oxford Records label. Two and four-minute (from 1909) cylinders were available, and over the course of production 1,598 titles were available.

Indestructible Records were made until 1922, when a factory fire ended production.

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Victory records (1928 – 1931)

Victory record were manufactured by the Crystalate Gramophone Record Manufacturing Company for sale in Woolworth stores in the UK.

They were 7-inch 78rpm shellac records, selling for just sixpence (2½p). As well as the latest popular songs, they also contained instrumentals, dances and music for children.

All Victory records were electrically recorded, and had a playing time similar to a standard 10-inch record of the time (hence the claim on the label of being a ‘Long Playing Record’).

They were replaced in Woolworth stores by the Eclipse 8-inch 78rpm, and were discontinued in 1931.

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Graphophone / Dictaphone cylinder (1887 – early 1950s)

The Dictaphone was one of two competing wax cylinder phonograph systems for voice dictation, the other being Edison’s Ediphone system. The use of cylinders for voice recording pre-dated their use for music when, in 1887, Alexander Graham Bell, his cousin Chichester A. Bell, and Charles Sumner Tainter put into production a wax cylinder system for recording and reproducing speech (Edison then switched from tinfoil to wax cylinders in response in 1888).

Until 1907 the Dictaphone system was known as the Graphophone.

The main difference between the two rival systems was the recording method, with Edison using ‘hill and dale’ recording, while the Graphophone used lateral (side to side) recording. The cylinders could have a layer of wax shaved off, to enable re-use.

By the mid-1940s, new dictation technologies were rapidly being introduced such as Dictaphone’s own Dictabelt, Edison’s Voicewriter, the Gray Audograph and the SoundScriber, and both Edison and Dictaphone stopped supplying wax cylinders in the early 1950s.

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Pygmy Gramophone (1923 – 1925)

Pygmy Gramophone was a record label owned by Crystalate (who also produced Kiddyphone records) that produced small records aimed at children between around 1923 and 1925.

The records were made for the toymakers Bing Brothers who produced the Bing Pygmyphone, a small tinplate phonograph for children.

The records themselves were 5½-inches in diameter. Catalogue numbers ran from 1 to about 80 and the recordings were a mix of early dance music and popular vocal and instrumental selections.

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Stereoview (1850s – 1920s)




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Little Marvel (1921-1928)

Little Marvel was a UK record label owned by Vocalion Records. Between 1921 and 1928, Little Marvel records were produced, and were sold exclusively in Woolworth’s stores in the UK. They were inexpensive to buy (just 6d or sixpence) and very popular despite playing for just a minute or two.

Initally, the discs were 5⅜-inches in diameter, but eventually increased to 6-inches. They played at 80rpm.

The recording artists were not credited, and the labels mention only the song title, the style of music (e.g. foxtrot, waltz), and in some cases the name of the songwriter or composer. Most issues had a popular song on one side which was under copyright and for which a halfpenny royalty was paid, while the other side was a recording of a title under public domain, or with the copyright controlled by the record company.

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