This vintage Columbia Phonograph Company artifact presents a two-minute record cylinder. The original packaging identifies it as an "Extra Loud, High-Speed" record, a style of brown wax or black-molded cylinder produced during the early 1900s. Columbia discontinued the production of new cylinder titles around 1909, opting to transition to the more commercially viable flat disc format.
These phonograph cylinder records, commonly referred to as "wax cylinders," initially featured a brown wax-like material. Later iterations utilized a harder "black wax" composition. The Columbia Phonograph Company, established in 1889, was a significant pioneer and key competitor to Thomas Edison's phonograph enterprise. They released "black wax" molded cylinders concurrently with their earlier brown wax versions after 1902.
The record is likely a standard two-minute design, intended for playback at a speed of 160 RPM. The label design, as depicted in the image, with the text "EXTRA LOUD, HIGH SPEED," was a specific style produced for a limited period before the company's focus shifted entirely to flat disc records.