Pictured was a wax cylinder used with the Edison “Fireside” Phonograph. The phonograph on display at the Tipton County Museum is a Model A version of the Fireside, which could use 2 or 4-minute cylinder records. Invented by Thomas Edison in 1877, phonographs were analogue devices built for the reproduction and recording of sound. Phonographs worked through a stylus (or needle) mechanically tracing the waveforms previously impressed on a wax cylinder which when rotated along its axis produced vibrations which could be heard through a horn. Edison invented the phonograph while working on a telegraphic device that could record and send voice messages. Though produced until 1929, wax cylinders and the phonograph lost popularity to the gramophone and the disc record which was easier to mass produce.

Playing is a traditional Irish Jig from 1870’s titled “The Butterfly Flute & Clarinet Duet.” It is the #106 Edison Wax cylinder