Mahogany Edison Model A Triumph Phonograph

[Phonofreak]

I see the differences between an all original example and a restored one. We shouldn't be quick to bash a restored example. Sometimes it's necessary to restore a machine that's a pile of rust and junk. I know that Edison horned machines in Mahogany are rare indeed. But I see no harm in restoring one to save it from the "dead". A good example is the discussion on the restoration of the Mahogany Edison Home in this forum.
Harvey Kravitz

[flashpanblue]

Hi Harvey,
I agree with you we should not bash a restored machine. All I was really trying to point out is that the Triumph has been refinish and no longer has it's 100 plus year old original finish. There is nothing wrong with saving a machine and making it presentable by refinishing it if necessary, but the value will be less than one that is in nice original condition. I have a few machines in my collection that have been refinished. I have a mahogany cased Columbia BG that was restored by one of our Forum members ( see pictures). He did a very nice job on the case and used a Gregg Cline decal on the front. I liked the machine and so I bought it. I paid about $500.00 less then I would have paid for one with it's original finish. Getting back to the Ebay listing for the mahogany Triumph it is a very rare machine and refinished or not I would love to have it in my collection.
Pete

[Hailey]

Can we actually confirm that the early Triumph banner front machine was actually available in mahogany case...or, was this machine originally (now that it has been truthfully mentioned of the refinished case) one with the Edison script decal??

[flashpanblue]

Hello,
Yes the Triumph model A ( banner decal) was offered in a mahogany case. It was special order and cost an additional $10.00 Even the 5" Edison Concert could be ordered with a mahogany case.
Pete

[phonogfp]

Can we actually confirm that the early Triumph banner front machine was actually available in mahogany case...or, was this machine originally (now that it has been truthfully mentioned of the refinished case) one with the Edison script decal??

Although I can find no catalog offering of mahogany cabinets for Edison Phonographs prior to 1905, it's clear that the company was making them available in earlier years on request. In The Talking Machine Compendium a mahogany-cased Spring-Motor Phonograph (nickel-plated to boot!) can be seen in Figure 3-34. A Triumph similar to the one in this thread can be seen in Figure 3-81.

George P.

[Jerry B.]

Every category of collecting has its own appreciation or discrimination of a restored piece. This value is determined by modern collectors and can be debated for eternity. A comparison between music box collectors and talking machine collectors is interesting. It's my observation that music box collectors are much more likely to appreciate a well restored box while phono collectors are more likely to discount a restored talking machine. I don't know why this is true. Perhaps it's because record players are more common than music boxes. I would be disappointed to find a refinished mahogany Triumph when I expected to see one with an original finish but I would still be interested. I would discount the value and, unless it has a Gregg Cline decal, I would probably refinish it again to get an accurate decal. At Union you see potential buyers looking at high dollar machines with a glass in an effort to determine if a decal is new. That was not true just a few years ago when you could spot a new banner decal across a room.
*
Jerry Blais (That's a really good looking Col BG!)

[ambrola]

I also e-mailed the seller. Said it was done 29 years ago. I don't like the fact that the seller didn't state this in the description to start with. I would still like to have it, but not at the crazy price it will go for.

[ambrola]

Now we will never know what the selling price is. Seller ended?

[Hailey]

So very typical in this hobby of ours!