|
Michael Thomas' Website |
Records |
| Home Page | Records | British Dance Bands | Sound Files | Contact Me |
|
Ebonoid
records appeared in September 1909 and were most likely only available for
a few months. They were 3/- each, similar to most ofther disc records at
the time. They were produced by The Premier Manufacturing Company, who were already making Clarion cylinder & disc records which were standard length, but the Ebonoid cylinders and discs were advertised as playing for 5 minutes (each side, for the discs). At the time of the announcement of Ebonoid discs, Premier were already in the hands of a receiver, and company went into liquidation in 1910, so it is not surprising the records are extremely scarce. The 1909 advert showed a "sample list" of 6 records, numbered 10001 to 10006, and it had always been assumed that these were the only ones produced, but in October 2021, images of No. 10008 were sent to collector & researcher Norman Field, which proves there were more. In fact the advert which lists the 6 initial records does state that "more will be available immediately" but really that means nothing in such adverts! One of the more confusing aspects of Ebonoid cylinders & discs is the numbering. The cylinders were numbered from 5000 upwards, but the matrix numbers of the discs were also in the same range. However the numbers of the cyliinders and those of the discs do not match each other. Hence, below, you will see No 10001 has "By The Swanee River" (matrix 5000) coupled with "Sunday With The Troops" (matrix 5005). The same titles on Ebonoid cylinders are numbered 5013 & 5019 resepectively. It is not known whether the cylinders and discs are separate recordings or one format is dubbed from the other, or they are concurrent recordings (i.e. whether the disc & cylinder recordings were made at the same time using two different cutting lathes). Only some of the records are available in both formats, as far as is known, but the extent of neither series is fully documented. |
 |