What's Wrong With This Picture?!

[SonnyPhono]

So I bought another phonograph today. (Hello, my name is Jeff and I'm a phonoholic. ) I hadn't seen any pictures of it, but the lady who called me was very sweet and said that it was an Edison Standard with the big black horn. I asked several questions before deciding to meet her locally to take a look. So before I get to the strange part, here is what I ended up buying.



As you can see, it is an Edison Home phonograph with the black "Home" horn. It is just as quiet as any Edison I have cleaned or rebuilt and plays beautifully like it was made yesterday. It also came with a box of 20 cylinders and the crane. I told the lady that she must have been mistaken, and that this is actually a Home model. The case is longer than a standard and the horn is a Home horn.

Here is a picture of the phonograph again...do you see anything out of the ordinary?



If you caught it in that picture you are better at this hobby than I. I didn't find out until I got home to look it over again that this ID tag is on the bed plate.




Now this has to be added by somebody right? There is absolutely no confusion that this is 100% an Edison Home phonograph. Absolutely everything about it is a Home phonograph. But why the Standard ID plate? My thinking was that someone added it later. But that raises a couple questions. Why would someone add an ID plate as it isn't a very important aspect to the look of a phonograph. Especially where it is place on a Home model. But even more important, why would someone replace it with a Standard ID plate? Am I correct in saying that this would be like replacing the hood ornament on your BMW with that of a Ford Taurus? It doesn't make sense to do something like that even if the ID plate was in bad shape.

To make it more interesting, the lady I bought this from said it was in her family since the original purchase date, and that she had never seen or heard of the family owning any other phonographs except for this one. It has never been painted or refinished, so why change ID plates? It doesn't make sense.

Any ideas on this one?

[phonophan79]

No idea, don't know my cylinder machines so well... but thanks for sharing the pictures and story! Very handsome looking machine and horn.

[SonnyPhono]

Thanks! It is in good condition. I just got home about an hour ago so I haven't touched it yet other than to try the mechanics. I will clean it up and polish the nickel parts and bed plate. Should be an easy one to clean up though. I'm just baffled about the ID tag!

[JohnM]

Likely a 'mint error'. I recall a story my parents used to tell about some guy that bought a Ford, but the letters were applied 'Dorf' or something like that, and Ford paid the man big money to buy the vehicle back. Probably urban legend circa 1962, but I digress. I think the Standard/Home was made on a Friday afternoon or a Monday morning!

[SonnyPhono]

Thanks for the info John! Does anybody have Edison's cell # so I can give him a quick call to see if he would like to buy it back!

So you think this may be how it came from the factory? How common is an error like this if that is what it truly is?

I can't imagine that it is an error though. If I paid quite a bit of money for something back then and it arrived marked as a lesser model, I would send it back or have it fixed. Are ID tags easily taken off/put onto machines? If so, are there signs I can look for to give away a handyman's switching of the tags?

Other than buying a reference book, is there a website I can find the serial ranges for different Edison models? I would be curious to do some research on the serial number and try to get to the bottom of this one. There has to be a website that has the general serial ranges, right?

Sorry about all the questions, but you have all been so helpful and I appreciate that.

[FellowCollector]

Another nice find. I'll say it again - you are very fortunate to live in an area where phonograph items seem to be all over the place with people willing to sell them at astonishingly reasonable prices. And 2 and 4 minute gearing to boot. I think I'll move to NH for a few years. What a deal!

[SonnyPhono]

Thanks Doug! The only downfall of finding phonographs at good prices is that now I have many projects all going at the same time. But it's fun and there is nothing like finding an oddity or something like the one being discussed on this thread. Part of my enjoyment in the hobby is not just the hunt, but the research to trace a specific machine's history and the path it has taken. That is why I am asking so many questions about this one. I am curious as to whether this was a mistake, (which I doubt) or a replacement someone put on. (Which doesn't make sense as the rest of the cabinet and parts are original and are in good condition.)

I will say I have been lucky in finding some nice phonographs around my general area. But they haven't fallen into my lap. I have put my work into the searching and networking. Overall, there seems to be quite a concentration of phonographs where I am.

[Brad]

Beautiful machine Jeff, and the crane alone is probably worth more than you paid.

Edison did not keep records of serial numbers. As I recall reading in Frow's book, all that exists are meeting minutes that contained decisions like "buy 500 more standard cabinets", or "Increase production to at least 250 per week". It also appears that Edison would continue to manufacture multiple versions of the same model for years. Very strange.

The ID tag should be held in by the two rivets. You might be able to get them out, but I would not bother. I would look for evidence that the machine has been reworked - Look for scratches, paint ridges, etc suggesting the outline of a different ID tage. Look for motor parts that have distinctly different patina, screws that don't match, etc.

If it plays well, I would not do anything other than dust it off and enjoy.

[SonnyPhono]

Thanks for the advice. Here's a question for you. The ID tag is held by two small "pins" that are inserted into the bed plate and then bent underneath to hold it tight. Does anyone know if the bottoms of the casting the motor is bolted to were painted before or after the tags were applied? Because I checked several of my Edison phonographs and can't come up with an answer to this one. Some of the tabs underneath that are bent over are black, matching the paint under the casting like they were already in place when the underside was painted. Others that I have, show the tags underneath that are not black, as if they were applied after the castings were painted.

I am going to try to carefully remove the tabs to look further for any aftermarket tinkering. Pictures to follow...

[phonogfp]

I would not remove the data plate. It appears to be original to the machine and a genuine oddity, but once you remove it, it's no longer "factory applied."

I've never seen a machine mismarked like this, but it might have been possible for a stray blank for a "Standard" to have found its way into the "Home" blanks. Interesting!

George P.