Berliner Gramophone formulations remained the standard disc record material until the first vinyl records – initially made only for radio use and other special applications – were introduced in the 1930s. Beginning in 1896, Berliner's gramophones were made by Philadelphia-based machinist Eldridge Johnson, who added a spring motor to drive the previously hand-rotated turntable. Berliner also opened an office in New York City, staffed by Frank Seaman and O. D. LaDow and organized as the National Gramophone Company. Master recordings were made onto zinc plates, which were then electroplated and a negative-image "mother" made from them to stamp discs. A major reversal
Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit are confessional, only they describe her material life and conflicted feelings acutely rather than dreamily, so that the songs occur in and are inflected by a deftly rendered physical and social world." In a less enthusiastic review, Christopher Monk of musicOMH called "Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit" "a likeable, enjoyable album rather than a great one", writing that "the craft of Barnett's words dwarfs that of her music...there are too many compositions here that feel underwritten." "Rolling Stone" ranked "Pedestrian at Best" at number 4 on its annual year-end list to find the best songs