Phonograph record, wood flour: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This phonograph record is labeled “Little Wonder No. 1138, Longing, Tenor Duet.” It was donated to the museum in 1920 by the New York State College of Forestry at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York, as a part of a collection of objects that illustrate the different ways wood can be utilized in commercial production. This record contains between 60-80% wood flour, or wood in very fine particle form produced from grinding, sawing, and machining dry wood. Wood flour can be used in a multitude of ways; the most common and the case applicable here is its use as a filler agent to reduce the amount of a more expensive ingredient, often in work with linoleum and plastics. The New York State College of Forestry was founded in 1898 at Cornell University and was the first professional school of forestry in North America. In 1911, it was reestablished at Syracuse University. Today, the college is a part of the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF).

Materials, dates and provenance

• Object Name: Record, Phonograph
• Measurements: overall: 5 1/2 in; x 13.97 cm
• ID Number: AG.20FP02.01
• catalog number: 20FP02.01
• catalog number: W904
• accession number: 064766
• Credit Line: The New York State College of Forestry at Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.