Wax cylinders were used on Edison's Phonograph, up until 1929 (or later for dictating machines). See the oldest surviving recording http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/m2/f3/nlc00835 7.ram , a message of Lord Stanley, Canada's Governor-General, to the people and president of the United States. The gramophone was developed by Emile Berliner, and used wax, or rubber, or shellac discs. See the advert from 1900 http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/m2/f1/nlc00426 1-v6.jpg.