In 1900, Thomas B Lambert was granted a patent that described a process for mass-producing cylinders made from celluloid, an early hard plastic ( of France was producing celluloid cylinders as early as 1893, but they were individually recorded rather than molded). That same year, the Lambert Company of Chicago began selling cylinder records made of the material. They would not break if dropped and could be played thousands of times without wearing out, although the choice of the bright pink color of early cylinders was arguably a marketing error. The color was changed to black in 1903, but brown and blue cylinders were also produced. The coloring was purportedly done because the dye reduced surface noise. Unlike wax, the hard inflexible material could not be shaved and recorded over, but it had the advantage of being nearly permanent.