Wax cylinder records were the first commercially viable method of recording and playing back sounds. The phonograph was invented in 1877 by Thomas Edison, who successfully recorded intelligible sounds on a thin sheet of tin foil wrapped around a metal cylinder. Returning to audio devices in the late-1880s, after successfully developing the incandescent lightbulb, Edison introduced wax cylinders. These thick cylinders could be reused by shaving away the grooves of previous recordings; similar products utilised only a thin film of wax over cardboard and were single-use. Wax cylinders with pre-recorded professional performances were first sold from 1889, they were more expensive but generally produced a better sound than contemporary disc-shaped gramophone records, which were usually made from vulcanised rubber or, after 1895, shellac. Early methods of recording were basic, usually requiring many repeat performances from the artist, one for each cylinder, eventually yielding only a small batch of finished records.

This type of record, an ‘Edison Gold Moulded Record’, was introduced by the company in 1902 and is made from an improved black wax, improving durability. These records were made from a master mould, which only required a single performance from the artist, allowing easier mass production than with the previous methods. They could also be played at a higher speed of 160 RPM, giving them a higher audio quality compared to the previously-available 120 or 144 RPM recordings. The ‘gold’ refers to a very small amount of precious metal used as an electrical conductor used in the manufacture of the master mould. Wax cylinder recordings were superseded in the 1910s by cylinders made from harder-wearing, ‘indestructible’ celluloid (cellulose nitrate).

The cylinder, now sadly broken, is a recording of the hymn ‘Cast Thy Burden unto the Lord’, based on Psalm 55:22. Records of this type usually had a playing time of around two minutes.