Perfected Graphophone Type G - Wild Find

[Curt A]

Ever wonder what's still lurking out there waiting to be found?

A month or so ago, I bought a Cygnet Horn from a guy in Tennessee. After completing the transaction, I asked if he had anything else... He said he had a couple of more horns and what sounded like a Crap-O-Phone in his building. Anything else? A needle tin and an old cylinder player in his house... After describing it to me, I asked if he could send a couple of pics. When I saw them, I wasn't exactly sure what I was looking at, since the pictures were crappy. but the decal appeared to say Perfected Graphophone.

I asked Rene and George about it and they advised that I should try to get it. However, when I asked if it was for sale, he said someone else had tried to buy it and he wasn't interested in selling it to this guy because the guy owed him $30. Anyway, he liked it and didn't want to get rid of it.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and I called him back. Someone had just crashed a car into his building and caused some serious damage, so after several days of negotiations, he decided to sell it to me. I took some money out of my IRA and decided to drive 4 hours each way up there on Monday, before he changed his mind. This machine was sitting in a spare bedroom under a TV... Serial #G 30027 - number 27 out of the factory in 1894...

This was the first machine made specifically for home entertainment with all new parts, not put together with left over business machine parts.

[Django]

Nicely done. An amazing survivor.

[Curt A]

Thanks... Here's Rene's Type G: http://edisontinfoil.com/col-g.htm

[Jerry B.]

Great find! Congratulations, Jerry

[Shawn]

Curt,

Congratulations! Interestingly, I have the machine that was produced just after yours - G30028.

These two examples are of the Type-1 variety, with the carriage that rotates all the way back and the drop down door. The Type-2 had no drop down door, and a different carriage arrangement.

Awesome to see machines turning up in the wild!!!

Shawn

[melvind]

Fantastic find! Something any of us would love to find. Congratulations!

Dan

[TinfoilPhono]

What a great find, and also a great story. It's encouraging to know there really are some treasures still waiting to be found!

[martinola]

Wow. What a nice machine and a great piece of history!

Martin

[Steve Levi]

Amazing!!!! Kudos on your machine and your finding it! There must have been something in the moon and stars that was meant for your discovery, let alone your purchase. It is a great story and an unbelievable find! Thanks for sharing! Steve L.

[fran604g]

What can I say, other than what everyone else has already said? Wow, that's amazing, and the condition is incredible. Was he a non-collector? I'm surprised that of all the possibilities, this would be the one machine he held onto. Obviously, he must have known it was special.

Congratulations!

Best,
Fran