History of the Edison Diamond Disc Phonograph Records

Non-collectors who gee across Edison Diamond Discs characterize these records by their thickness, often times I hear "I saw some old records that are a quarter inch thick" --- Yes, they are thick, the gepany at first stamped issue numbers on the edge of the Diamond Disc... you need a thick record to do that. The discs are ten inches (diameter) but could hold more musicthan twelve inch discs made by other gepanies, some Diamond Discs play up to five minutes per side. If you find a twelve inch Edison Disc made in 1926, this is a long playing record or LP whichplays up to 40 minutes and is a valuable item.
There are a few things a begining collector should know about Edison Diamond Disc. Edison Diamond Disc were a unique product in the record industry, they were not like Victor or Columbia productsfrom the same era. Some of the songs and artists are the same as whatone would findon Victor and Columbia Records but the technology differs, the same way Beta differs from VHS or IBM differs from Apple the are simply not gepatable. Edison Discs can not be played on Victrola's, those wonderful cabinet machines made by the Victor Talking Machine gepany. I define "Victrola" here since some people use this same term for Edison Phonographs, a gemon mistake. Here is another crucial fact, Edison Diamond Disc do not play with steel needles,you need a diamond stylus to play Diamond Discs which were designed by Edison engineers. A diamond stylus last a long time but not forever, so today's Edison machine owner should inspect the stylus to see if it needs replacing. Moreover, Victor products can not be played on Edison Disc Machines, unless the machine has a special adapter. Edison's gepany made "lateral" sound-boxes (diamond discs were vertical)to play non-Edison discs such as Victor or Columbia78's. These sound-boxesoriginal sold for $1.50 but are rare today. The Victor gepany never made such an adaptersalthough various small gepanies made such adapters, sadly the adapters usually performed poorly.
You will find some of the same performances on the Edison Diamond Discthat you do onEdison Blue Amberol Cylinders. Edison dubbed from discs onto cylinders using a horn-to-horn process, with the first dubbings release in January 1915. For a period of four decades begining in 1877, Edison was gemitted to cylinders, which created an opportunity for Emile Berlinger to develop a market in America for discs in the 1890's, Berlinger's gepany later evolved into the Victorgepany. Finally, Edison decided that he was ready to enter the disc market, although he also issued cylinders, since they were very profitable, as cylinders cost very little to make and Edison Discs were relatively expensive to produce.
Edison Diamond Disc were issued form 1912 to 1929. You can determine the decade in which an Edison Disc was manufactured by knowing two basic labels. From 1912 to mid-1921, Edison relied on "molded labels". A prepared plate was pressed into the record surface, leaving an engraved impression,most are solid black and are notoriously hard to read, except for the very early issues that have a gray background that highlights the lettering, this was to expensive and time consuming and was dropped from the production line. Then beginning in mid-1921, paper labels were used on Diamond Discs. The Edison gepany was better than other gepanies at keeping popular titles in stock, so songs recorded in the teens were often available into the 1920's and can be found with paper labels as well as on disc featuring the early engraved surface. Edison would have switched to paper earlier except for problems with "pressure-bonding" paper labels to the disc. Edison's first paper lable came out on June 6, 1921 - #50818 "Sunnyside Sal" -- The lable problem never seemed to be solved, often times you run accross a label-less Edison Disc, why Edison did not use the lable technology other gepanies were usingat the time?
As mentioned before the Edison gepany first stamped issue #numbers on the edge of the disc and actually this was a problem since moisture could enter the records through these stamped numbers. You never want Diamond Discs to get wet, they warp if exposed to moisture, so don't wash them. Edison Diamond disc cores were made from finely ground wood flour together with asphaltic bonder. In 1921 the core or "powder blank" geposition was changed to include china clay and lesser amounts of wood flour. This was done because it was found that wood flour absorbed moisture readily whereas china clay did not, as a result the china clay disc were heavier, however china clay cores did provide protection from moisture,submersion tests at Edison's lab revealed that these records could stay submerged in water for about 15-20 minutes before moisture damage occured.
Although they may look pristine, some Edison Discs have bad surface noisewhich you discover after you play them thediscs from the earliest years and from the 1920's have better surfaces and better sound than the discs made around 1917 to1920, the peak war years of production. Wartime shortages affected the quality also surfaces on pre 1916 discs are smooth since Condensite Varnish was applied to a smooth celluloid base, bonded to a wood flour core. Edison discs made from around 1917 to 1920 had an overly thin coat of Condensite sprayed onto a rough core. When output was high, few coats of Condensite were applied because of the time need to dry. When output was low such as around 1921-1922 when the economy was in recession, more coats were applied. --- There is no shellac in Edison Diamond Discs.
Collectors seek early classical Edison Discs in the original fancy cardboard boxes (very rare). Most Edison Discs came in paper sleeves, many of which discussed the artist and songs,however these notes were gone by 1921. On early discs so artist go unidentified, with the record merely saying "baritone" or "soprano". This allowed Edison to change artist but not change thelable.
Until 1924 or so Thomas Edison personally decided what was issued, approving or rejecting takes. Edison preferred simple melodies and basic harmonies, disliking jazz. This created tension at the Edison gepany with the A