$31.95
1 in stock
Before the angel’s announcement was ever sung on the radio, it was played — by a brass band, on black wax, in the parlor.
This is an original Edison Gold Moulded cylinder record, #10257, featuring “While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night” performed by the Edison Concert Band, issued in December 1909 for the Christmas season. The carol itself is one of the oldest in the English Christmas tradition — Nahum Tate’s words date to 1700, and for generations it was the hymn of the shepherds, sung in churches and homes every Christmas Eve. Here it’s given to Edison’s flagship concert band in a full instrumental arrangement: the announcement to the shepherds, played the way a town band would have played it from the gazebo on a snowy night.
The Gold Moulded process — each record moulded from a gold-lined master rather than cut individually — gave these 2-minute black wax cylinders their clarity and strength, and made records like this one affordable in every parlor in America. This record plays on any Edison phonograph in 2-minute trim, including the Standard, Home, Gem, and Fireside models with a standard 2-minute reproducer.
Christmas cylinders lived hard lives — brought out every December, played by the tree, and put away until the next year — so band carols in very good condition are genuinely scarce survivors of a hundred-plus holiday seasons.
Condition: Very good. This cylinder shows normal, age-appropriate wear and still presents well for display or playback — an honest, attractive example of one of the oldest carols in the language. It comes in its tube, ready for your shelf or your machine.
Play it on Christmas Eve, with the lights low, and you’re hearing what a family heard in 1909 — no arrangement, no studio tricks, just a fine band and a carol that was already two centuries old when Edison recorded it.
Details:
Please note: stock photos are used for this listing. They closely represent the cylinder and tube you will receive. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out anytime.
