Geneva Perfect Tone Phonograph

[deslado]

My dad has a phonograph made by Geneva Phonograp co. We are looking for info on this brand of machine.

The motor was made by Heineman and is described a "40 Motor of Quality". It is also stamped "Made in USA".

The reproducer was made by Victor Talking Machine cCO of Camden NJ. It is described as "Exhibition".

Can you please help us fing info on this phonograph? Thanks a bunch.

[brianu]

you probably won't find a whole lot of information on that specific manufacturer. the machine appears to be one of those produced by an "off-brand" maker - victor, edison and columbia, among others, being the primary manufacturers. as the demand for phonographs at the time grew, more and more companies started producing them, but most such companies didn't last very long - at least in the phono business - and the products they produced, for the most part, weren't that great by comparison to the main brands. there's a discussion of a similar, though slightly more ornate off-brand machine, at the link below...

http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... f=2&t=2373

so the machine itself probably isn't worth much at all. if the reproducer (which is definitely not original to the machine) is a victor exhibition reproducer - and it appears to be gold-plated - and if it's in decent shape, then it's probably worth as much as the rest of the machine... you can get an idea of prices by looking at completed auctions on ebay.

[OrthoFan]

I agree with Brian.

From the style of the case, components, etc., this looks to be from the late teens/early 1920s.

In addition to a replacement sound box (Victor sound boxes were only used on Victor Talking Machines), I'd guess that the tonearm--which dates from the late 1920s/early 1930s--is also a replacement for the original, which likely was made of pot metal and crumbled and cracked apart long ago.

For more information about these off-brand machines, see: http://www.gracyk.com/makers.shtml

From the photos, the original finish looks to have been over-coated with redwood stain?

[gramophoneshane]

Usually with fairly uncommon off-brand machines, your best bet is to search news paper archives, and hope the company either advertised their machines somewhere, or that an article was written about the company opening or closing.
It can be like looking for a needle in a hay stack though.

[WDC]

I may have found a very short reference by Google's book search in Geneva in vintage postcards by John J. Laukaitis.

It generally says what was already assumed.