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This was one of the first disc
records produced by Edison Bell. This was a rather odd size, being about 8½" in diameter and with a vertical cut groove,
They were first annpunced on Noveber 1908 at about the same time as "Bell Disc". Although quite cheap at 1/6, they were very short-lived and hardly ever
turn up, probably ceasing production within a year. It is thought the catalogue series starts at 250 and runs to
about 312; the number is often only shown on one side of the record. The initial list in "Sound Wave" runs from 250 to 297 but has many gaps. The advert slso states that 6 dozen (thats 72 !) other records had been prepared ready for issue and gives some of the titles, but no catalogue numbers (see foot of this page). It is extremely doubtful that most of these were ever issued. I have seen and heard only one Phona-disc and each side plays for only 2 minutes and has announcements, which shows that they were dubbed from existing cylinder recordings Some of the Phona-disc masters were later re-issued on the 9" Little Champion records; a larger than usual blank outer-rim area being noticeable on such issues. The Phona-disc "label" itself is rather odd, possibly unique. At the very centre is a printed label which just has the words "Genuine EDISON BELL PHONA-DISC London" in gold on green. Outside of that, the title, artist, description and numbers are etched in a similar manner to Pathe discs.There was also an 11" series with numbers starting at 1000 and running to 1020, though none of these have been reported in actuality and it may be that they were announced in the trade press but never actually went into production. |
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