Busy-Bee-Record (U.S.A.) / c. 1906
Corporate background:
Founded in 1904, this company had a Sherwin
Bisbee as one of its principals (which probably gave rise to
the label name).
Originally, the company made machines which
played outsized cylindrical records, but as the public began to
show a preference for discs, switched their product line over
in 1906.
Thomas Edison had also banked on the
superiority of cylinder technology, but resisted obeying market
dictates until 1912.
‘Amberized’ describes the type
of material used for the manufacture (an early form of
plastic).
Design: Dome-shaped
‘skeps,’ made of straw woven into rope-like coils,
were widely used by apiarists during the 19th century.
They were usually set up off the ground on
wooden table-stands, as suggested here.
Busy-Bee-Records were pierced with a
rectangular slot (seen at the foot) which fitted over a
matching lug on the turntable of Busy-Bee machines.