DATING CYLINDERS

Hi
i'm new to collecting cylinders and i was wondering if it is possible to date recordings by their catalogue number. I assume that the numbers were chronological so does anyone know which edison or Columbia cylinder numbers passed the year 1900 ?
Are there any databases on the net with this info (I havn't found anything so far).

Many thanks in advance
Ray

Hi,
Yes, it is possible to date cylinders by their number.I do not know of any net-service.I use myself various books to get the dates.For Edison 2-min cylinders starting in the mid 1880 ties there is a book by Alan koenigsberg issued in about 1965--but it is out-of-print as far as I know.For Edison (Blue) Amberols there is a very nice book by Ronald Dethlefson Part 1 (1912-1914) and Part 2 (1915-1928) which is readely for sale (f.i. with APSCO).There are also books , of which I do not have eact titles , to date Columbia and other makes.At APSCO they might be able to help you further.
Paul

Many thanks for your help, Paul. I'll keep my eyes open for the books.

Ray