Phonograph records co-existed initially with cylinders. They stored sound recordings in a flat disc which was an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove starts from the outside and works inward to the centre. These were then played on phonographs and later, on gramophones.
Until the 1940s, these records were usually made from something called shellac. Later in the twentieth century, "vinyl" records were made from polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Vinyls often had striking cover art, such as this cover of a David Bowie album which we have in our collection.