"Adopt a Cylinder" Program

It costs the library $60 to preserve a single cylinder, including rehousing, cataloging, and digitizeing it for public access. We currently have a backlog of over 1,000 cylinders that are not yet digitized. In 2010 a grant from the GRAMMY Foundation® supported the digitization of over 1,000 cylinders, but there are still hundreds more to be preserved and digitized.

• Complete list of cylinders available for adoption

If you would like to "adopt" a cylinder, we will prioritize the digitization of a cylinder and put it online for you and others to listen to. A $60 tax deductible donation* to the cylinder project will ensure the preservation of the cylinder of your choice. Email project director at seubert@library.ucsb.edu to adopt a cylinder or send a check payable to "UC Regents" to:

David Seubert
Davidson Library
University of California
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9010

Currently, we only accept payment via check or wire transfer (no Paypal or credit cards at the current time). Please provide your name and city if you wish to be acknowledged as the adoptee of the cylinder.

The library thanks the following donors for adopting cylinders:

• Paul Abramson, Purchase, New York
  • Berrick Von Norden. Before the dawn. Edison Amberol: 634. 1910.
• Anonymous
• Nobody knows (and nobody seems to care) / Irving Berlin. Louise Terrell. Edison Blue Amberol: 3941. 1920.
• Drowsy head / Irving Berlin. Green Brothers Novelty Band. Edison Blue Amberol: 4337. 1921.
• Crazy blues. Noble Sissle. Edison Blue Amberol: 4264. 1921
• Ann Bailey, Vashon, Washington
  • Will you love me when I'm old? / John Ford. Elizabeth Spencer. Edison Blue Amberol: 4253. 1920.
• Katherine Beck, Seattle Washington
  • Arthur Collins. Ragtime violin / Irving Berlin. Lakeside Indestructible Cylinder Record: 446. 1913 or 1914.
• Joseph and Lynda Berman, Athens, Ohio
  • March Boccaccio/ London Concert Orchestra. Lambert: 948. 190-?.
• Joelle N. Bird, Camden, New Jersey
  • Waldvoglein / Guido Gialdini. Indestructible Record: 1500. 1911
• Doug and Sharon Boilesen, Westminster, Colorado
  • It blew! Blew! Blew! / Edison Concert Band. Edison Gold Moulded Record: 9185. 1906.
• Jill Breedon, Santa Barbara, Calif.
  • Poet and peasant overture [Dichter und Bauer. Ouvertüre] / Suppe. National Military Band (London, England). Edison Blue Amberol 23001. 1913.
• Christopher Dixon, Kokomo, Indiana
  • Falstaff. Quand’ ero paggio / Giuseppe Verdi. Antonio Scotti. Edison Gold Moulded Record: B. 57. 1907.
  • Pagliacci / Ruggiero Leoncavallo. Antonio Scotti. Edison Gold Moulded Record: B. 20. 1906.
• Frederick Ellis, Folson, Louisiana
  • For old times sake / Chas. K Harris. Jere Mahoney. Edison Record: 7680. 1900.
• Leigh Fullmer
  • Les myrtes sont flétris : aubade / Jean Faure. E. Soubeyran. Cylindres Edison Moulés Sur Or: 17908. 1907.
• Rich Gardner
  • Ma Tiger Lily / A. Baldwin Sloan. Peerless Orchestra. Edison Record: 7617. between 1896 and 1900.
• John Graff, Denver, Colo.
  • Closing time at a country grocery. Byron G. Harlan and Frank C. Stanley. Edison Gold Moulded Record: 8172. 1902.
  • I've got rings on my fingers. Ada Jones. Indestructible Record: 1156. 1909.
  • Sweetheart days. Male Quartet. Columbia Phonograph Co.: 33230. 1908.
  • Whistle. Edison Military Band. Edison Gold Moulded Record: 9877. 1908.
• Matthew Hahn
  • Nanny (I have never loved another girl but you) / Harry Lauder. Edison Blue Amberol: 2905. 1916.
  • American Symphony Orchestra. Ride of the Valkyries / Richard Wagner. Edison Blue Amberol: 4802. 1924.
• Larry Hawes, Seattle Wash.
  • The white wash man / Arthur Collins. Indestructible Record: 1073. 1909.
  • Bear's oil / Billy Golden and Joe Hughes. Indestructible Record: 1111. 1909.
  • My Sambo / Arthur Collins. Edison Gold Moulded Record: 8123. 1902.
• Dianne L. Kryter, Santa Barbara, Calif.
  • The old rustic bridge by the mill / E. Pike and P. Dawson. Edison Blue Amberol: 23052. 1908.
• Liebhaber Family, Santa Barbara, Calif.
  • Tahitian Field Recordings, 1923
• Lucas Family, Jim Thorpe, Penna.
  • All she gets from the iceman is ice / Ada Jones. Edison Record: 9859. 1908.
• Megan MacMillan, Santa Barbara, Calif.
  • Valcartier - Canadian march / Frederick J. Pearsall. Sodero's Band. Edison Blue Amberol: 2634. 1915.
• Werner Moll, Mannheim, Germany
  • Columbia Quartette. You're the flower of my heart, sweet Adeline / Harry Armstrong. Columbia Phonograph Co.: 32584. 1904.
• Adrienne Naylor, in dedication to Jessica Hicks.
  • George J. Gaskin. Bred in Kentucky / Stanley Carter. Columbia Phonograph Co.: 4166. between 1896 and 1900.
• James Robertson, in honor of J.D. Robertson, Pocola, Oklahoma
  • There's a little white church in the valley / Irving Kaufman and Chorus. Edison Blue Amberol: 2717. 1915.
• David Seubert, Santa Barbara, Calif.
  • Any rags medley / Thos. S. Allen. Edison Concert Band. Edison Gold Moulded Record: 8573. 1903.
  • Performer not identified. Ouverture des noces Jeannette / Victor Massé. Lioret: [no number]. ca. 1898
• Neil Siegal, Glen Cove, New York
  • [Ballad sung by Leland [?] female vocal quartet]. Leland Quartet. Brown wax home recording: . between 1890 and 1920.
  • What a time. Polk Miller's Old South Quartet. Edison Blue Amberol: 2177. 1913.
  • I'se gwine back to Dixie / C.A. White. Manhansett Quartet. Columbia Phonograph Co.: 9010. between 1896 and 1900.
• Bruce Triggs, Vancouver, British Columbia
  • The butterfly / Theo Bendix. Alexander Prince. Edison Blue Amberol: 23081. 1913.
  • Nazareth / Charles Gounod. Alexander Prince. Edison Blue Amberol: 23055. 1913.
  • Medley of German waltzes. John J. Kimmel. Indestructible Record: 995. 1909.
  • Haley's fancy: medley of Irish jigs. John J. Kimmel and Joe Linder. Edison Blue Amberol: 4076. 1920.
  • Oh gee!. John J. Kimmel. Edison Blue Amberol: 3985. 1920.
  • Oi ya nestchastay (Malo russkaya piesnia) / Mykola Vitaliiovych Lysenko. Alexander Sashko ; A. Iranova. Edison Blue Amberol: 11234. 1922.
  • Il bacio / Luigi Arditi. Alexander Prince. Sterling Record: 399. [n.d.].
  • Merry widow waltz / Franz Lehár. Alexander Prince. Edison Blue Amberol: 23111. 1913 or 1914.
  • The battle song of liberty march / F. E. Bigelow. New York Military Band. Edison Blue Amberol: 3460. 1918.
  • On the Mississippi / Theodore F. Morse. A. Prince. Edison Gold Moulded Record: 13828. 1908.
  • Belphegor march / Engebert Brepsant. Concertina, played by A. Prince. Edison Gold Moulded Record: 14022. 1910.
  • Medley of Irish jigs. John Kimmble [sic] [John Kimmel]. Edison Gold Moulded Record: 9881. 1908.
• Ward Irish Music Archives, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
  • Killarney. Miss Marie Narelle. Edison Gold Moulded Record: 9081. 1905.
• Bedelia / N/A. George J. Gaskin. Columbia Phonograph Co.: 32320. 1903.
• An evening at Mrs. Clancy's boarding house / N/A. Steve Porter and Billy Murray. Columbia Phonograph Co.: 33124. 1906.
• The courtship of Barney and Eileen. Ada Jones and Len Spencer. Edison Gold Moulded Record: 9143. 1905.
• St. Patrick's Day at Clancy's. Columbia Quartette. Columbia Record: 32236. [1903].
• Pepita Maguire / J. B. Mullen. Edward M. Favor. Edison Gold Moulded Record: 8836. 1904.
• The girl I left behind me / David Belasco. Columbia Drum, Fife and Bugle Corps. Columbia Phonograph Co.: 12800. 1899.
• Ireland's well known melodies no. 2. Edison Grand Concert Band. Edison Gold Moulded Record: 128. between 1896 and 1900.
• The minstrel boy / Thomas Moore. William Tuson. Edison Gold Moulded Record: 8769. 1904.
• Killarney from "Rogers brothers in Ireland" / Max Hoffmann. Albert Benzler. Edison Gold Moulded Record: 9165. 1905.

*Only available for US taxpayers.

An initiative of the UC Santa Barbara Library • (805) 893-5444 • Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9010. Direct questions or comments about the project or this page to the project staff or visit the help pages.