Death Is Not The End
Making Records: Home Recordings c. 1890-1920 (Tape)
"Cylinder phonographs first entered the parlor in the late 1890s and stayed until displaced by newer technologies in the 1920s. They brought professional entertainers into our homes and let us command their performances at will. They also gave us the power to record. For the first time in human history we could take sonic selfies, audio snapshots with friends, and aural portraits of loved ones. Our phonographs captured the sounds of everyday life, both silly and serious: the baby's squalling, Johnny's naughty joke, Grandma's favorite hymn as only she could sing it, our letters to loved ones in foreign lands or 100 years in the future. In our own homes we spoke unfettered by commercial concerns or ethnographers' expectations. Our phonographs observed who we were and what we valued without interference or judgement." – David Giovannoni
Cover image text excerpt taken from How to Make Records at Home with an Edison Phonograph, 1910.
Recordings courtesy of The David Giovannoni's Collection of home cylinder recordings housed at the University of California, Santa Barbara cylinder audio archive.
| A1 | Excerpt From Brown Wax Home Recording Of Humorous Talk And Singing | 0:30 | |
| A2 | Black Wax Home Recording Of Woman Singing Hymn | 4:37 | |
| A3 | Brown Wax Home Recording Of "Bring Back My Kitty To Me" Sung To The Tune Of "My Bonnie Lives Over The Ocean" By Acapella Children's Chorus | 1:57 | |
| A4 | Brown Wax Home Recording Of Mother And Father Trying To Get "Billy Out Of Bed, Followed By Whistling Solo | 3:23 | |
| A5 | Black Wax Home Recording Of Brass Solo With Dog Howling And Man Whistling And Calling Muggsy | 2:10 | |
| A6 | Brown Wax Home Recording Of Woman Reciting French Language Lesson | 2:14 | |
| A7 | Black Wax Home Recording Of Ralph Sunderland Singing Unidentified Song | 2:22 | |
| A8 | Black Wax Home Recording Of Brass Solo And Duet | 2:41 | |
| A9 | Brown Wax Home Recording Of Dogs Barking, With Comic Introductions | 1:10 | |
| A10 | Black Wax Home Recording Of Whistling And Singing Duet | 1:36 | |
| A11 | Brown Wax Home Recording Of Squealing Of Pigs And Other Barnyard Sounds; Occasional Muffled Speech In Background | 1:50 | |
| A12 | Brown Wax Home Recording Of Whistling Over Commercial Recording Of Afterwards, By Professor Wormser | 2:22 | |
| A13 | Brown Wax Home Recording Of Flute Solo, Variations On Rock-a-bye Baby | 2:15 | |
| A14 | Brown Wax Home Recording Of Unidentified Guitar Solo | 2:06 | |
| A15 | Brown Wax Home Recording Of Women Talking, Singing, And Laughing | 2:11 | |
| B1 | Brown Wax Home Recording Of Family Gathering At Home Of W. H. Greenhow, Hornell, New York, November 16, 1901 | 3:08 | |
| B2 | Brown Wax Home Recording Of Male Singing In French | 2:28 | |
| B3 | Brown Wax Home Recording Of Child Singing All Alone | 2:02 | |
| B4 | Brown Wax Home Recording Of Organ Solo, January 23, 1896 | 3:04 | |
| B5 | Brown Wax Home Recording Of Group Singing With Zither Accompaniment | 2:44 | |
| B6 | Brown Wax Home Recording Of Baby Crying; Male Speaking In French; Child Singing Welcome To Winter | 2:31 | |
| B7 | Brown Wax Home Recording Of Psalm 23 Recited By Morgan Parsons Followed By Master Louis [?] Tupper [?] Parsons, Toddler, Talking On November 29, 1900 | 1:37 | |
| B8 | Brown Wax Home Recording Of Train Imitation With Whistle, And Joke With Laughing | 1:55 | |
| B9 | Brown Wax Business Dictation Recording | 7:54 | |
| B10 | Brown Wax Home Recording Of A Meeting Of The Wreckers Club | 2:23 | |
| B11 | Black Wax Home Recording Of Banjo Duet | 2:24 | |
| B12 | Black Wax Home Recording Of Indistinct Talk By Donald | 2:29 | |
| B13 | Black Wax Home Recording Of Man And Woman Singing Yodel Song In German With Zither | 2:33 | |
| B14 | Black Wax Home Recording Of Singing And Harmonica Music | 4:44 | |
| B15 | Black Wax Home Recording Of Boys Attending Nazareth Hall Boarding School, Nazareth, Pennsylvania, April 1, 1914 | 2:08 | |
| B16 | Black Wax Home Recording Of Man Delivering Religious Speech | 4:20 | |
| B17 | Black Wax Home Recording Of Woman Singing Oh! What A Beautiful Dream | 3:01 | |
| B18 | Black Wax Home Recording Of Woman Singing The Curse Of An Aching Heart ; A Dialog About A Wedding; And Man Singing Shall We Ever Be Able To Fly?, August 27, 1915 | 2:08 | |
| B19 | Brown Wax Home Recording Of Man Singing You're A Million Miles From Nowhere | 1:41 |
