A napkin ring cylinder is a format of phonograph cylinder manufactured and marketed by the Columbia Phonograph Company in 1904 and 1905. They were of standard diameter, but only measured 1.5 inches in length. [1] Primarily they were marketed for home recordings, at one-third the price of a standard-length cylinder, to be placed in a "voice album", [2] where family members or visitors to a home could leave a 30-second message, and a place was made on the container lid in which a photograph(s) of the individual(s) making the recording could be placed. [3] As well, the napkin ring cylinders were generally used as a marketing tool at the 1904 St. Louis Exposition and the 1905 Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition [1] where visitors to Columbia's booth were given the opportunity to make, and be given, a record without charge. [4] On occasion, a record made by an entertainer at the booth could be acquired instead. Surviving examples are very scarce. [4]
Some of the very earliest wax cylinder records were also noted to have been similar in dimension to a napkin ring. [5]
A napkin ring cylinder is a format of phonograph cylinder manufactured and marketed by the Columbia Phonograph Company in 1904 and 1905. They were of standard diameter, but only measured 1.5 inches in length. [1] Primarily they were marketed for home recordings, at one-third the price of a standard-length cylinder, to be placed in a "voice album", [2] where family members or visitors to a home could leave a 30-second message, and a place was made on the container lid in which a photograph(s) of the individual(s) making the recording could be placed. [3] As well, the napkin ring cylinders were generally used as a marketing tool at the 1904 St. Louis Exposition and the 1905 Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition [1] where visitors to Columbia's booth were given the opportunity to make, and be given, a record without charge. [4] On occasion, a record made by an entertainer at the booth could be acquired instead. Surviving examples are very scarce. [4]
Some of the very earliest wax cylinder records were also noted to have been similar in dimension to a napkin ring. [5]