"Adopt a Cylinder" Program

It costs the library $60 to catalog, digitize, rehouse, and preserve a single cylinder. We currently have a backlog of over 1,000 cylinders that are not yet digitized. Thanks to a grant from the GRAMMY Foundation® we will be digitizing hundreds of cylinders in 2009-2010, 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. 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 the following cylinders:

• Anonymous
  • Nobody knows (and nobody seems to care) / Irving Berlin. Louise Terrell. Edison Blue Amberol: 3941. 1920.
• Jill Breedon, Santa Barbara, Calif.
  • Poet and peasant overture [Dichter und Bauer. Ouvertüre] / Suppe. National Military Band (London, England). Edison Blue Amberol 23001. 1913.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• David Seubert, Santa Barbara, Calif.
  • Any rags meldley / Thos. S. Allen. Edison Concert Band. Edison Gold Moulded Record: 8573. 1903.

*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.