Summary The recording discovered in a private collection in Portland is one of only two copies.
BIDDEFORD (AP) - A 120-year-old wax-covered cylinder containing the earliest known recording of a black vocal group in the U.S. has been sold at an auction in Maine.
The recording discovered in a private collection in Portland is one of only two copies known to exist and sold for $1,100 on Saturday. The other is in the Library of Congress.
The 1893 recording of "Mama s Black Baby Boy" by the Unique Quartet was made before vinyl records. Instead, the music is etched on a wax-covered cylinder using technology invented by Thomas Edison.
A second Unique Quartet song, "Who Broke the Lock (on the Henhouse Door)?" sold for $1,900 at the auction. It was recorded in 1896.
