<div dir="ltr"><h1>Talking Wax</h1>
<p>By Keith Kramer</p><p><i>This is a very rare publication transcribed by Keith Kramer and kindly made available to us.</i></p><p><a href="http://www.gracyk.com/talkingWax.html" target="_blank">http://www.gracyk.com/talkingWax.html</a><br>
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<p><img src="http://www.gracyk.com/img/machines.jpg" alt=""></p>
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<p>Record collectors and students of phonographic history will find original and interesting material in the publication of <b>Talking Wax</b>,
a very obscure book later cited as a source for other works.
Generally considered the first book (1945) on the history of
phonographs, "Talking Wax, or The Story of the Phonograph" by Leroy
Hughbanks, had
an unlikely beginning and unfortunately must not have received the
notice that it deserved.</p>
<p>Written by a blind pastor
(and lifelong phono-enthusiast) from a tiny Kansas town over the span of
eight years, the book was well-researched, sources including patents,
industry and trade publications, personal interviews and first-hand
experiences. <b>Talking Wax</b> was printed only once and
published by Hobson
Book Press, a small Kansas family business noted for printing small
press runs of several hundred copies, not unlike a vanity press today;
the company folded two years later.</p>
Of particular interest in the book are formulas for wax and shellac
records, overviews of technologies
that we now know never succeeded in the marketplace, and reminiscences
of the liberating impact of phonographs and later radios upon the
author's life. Only a few copies of this book can be located today,
mainly in university libraries scattered across the country. It has
been one of my goals for the past 35 years since reading it, to find
another copy, transcribe it and share with fellow collector/historians. Enjoy! --Keith Kramer
<div class=""><div id=":4pc" class="" tabindex="0"><img class="" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/images/cleardot.gif"></div></div><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div dir="ltr"><div>carlos palombini<br>professor de musicologia ufmg<br>
<a href="http://proibidao.org" target="_blank">proibidao.org</a><br></div><a href="http://ufmg.academia.edu/CarlosPalombini" target="_blank">ufmg.academia.edu/CarlosPalombini</a><br><a href="http://scholar.google.com.br/citations?user=YLmXN7AAAAAJ" target="_blank"><span style="display:block">scholar.google.com.br/citations?user=YLmXN7AAAAA</span></a><br>
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