The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Have any members been collecting long enough to get to the place where they know what they like and don't like? After a while you accumulate a large collection of machines and records.

I used to have more time working self employed, and after taking a full time job, I have little time to really use or play all of my machines.

Do any collectors decide to move toward cylinder machines and away from disc machines or vice versa? Or some collectors move from lateral to vertical vice versa, and even with records moving toward one type of record (cylinder, disc, brand of cylinder or disc etc.)?

I find myself more interested in cylinder machines and cylinders, far more than discs lately. I will probably thin out my collection to just having my L-Door, early VV-IV and VV-VI, HMV 102, VV-VIII, Polly Portable and B-19 as my disc machines, and keeping my 7 cylinder machines (Edison Standard A, Home B, Fireside A, Amberola 30, Columbia Q early and late, B and BK).

As far as records, I am more interested in cylinders and diamond discs. My lateral 78's will probably be more of the opera, classical, jazz and band types.

I'm sure we all have our preferences, and I personally think it is a good idea to know what you specifically like, and once your collection gets big enough, sell the stuff you may not like as much to others whose collections are small still, and would be more appreciated. I am not personally quite to this point, but I generally have little interest in Edisons (machines and records), and I'm more of a Columbia or Victor fan.












Plus, I'm sure our families wouldn't mind having a little extra space!

I'm a classical/opera collector. Some years ago--maybe 15 or so--I came to the sad realization I just don't have room to own every record ever made , so I decided to focus on vertical cut. My thinking was that the world of vertical cut is compact and self-limiting, and the records wouldn't bleed my bank account as badly. I guess you can figure out how well that worked out.

What I have learned since then is that a world of interesting artists recorded for Edison, Pathé, and the little vertical labels but are not well remembered by the general collecting public, presumably because they didn't have the benefit of the Victor promotion machine and their records essentially disappeared from the market with the advent of electrical recording.

That said, I do still buy some laterals when the music or artist dictate.

This is a loaded question. Some of us are Edison guys and some are lateral disc guys. I have a little of everything but like my Edison cylinders and discs the best.

I got into this hobby about 15 years ago. Back then, prices were higher on common floor models and was happy to pay $500 for something like an Edison William and Mary W-19 or a Chippendale C-250. As time went on and I acquired rarer machines, I sold off most of my common acquisitions due to space considerations. I do know other collectors who almost never sell a machine, no matter how crowded their home becomes. Lately, I have been trying to sell off my excess records. This can be hard to do if you don't put in some work. I tried to thin out my 12" 1930s and 1940s classical albums, but found that they can be tough to give away. I took about six large boxes of them to the APS show and only got rid of one box even though they were free! Later I found a rare very young buyer for my Edison W-19 on Craigslist. I gave him a low price for it, plus, he took the rest of my classical albums, 5 boxes full for free! It's good to see a 19 year old getting into this hobby, but they are rare!

I'm getting out of cylinders... again. They just don't move me.

I keep a few machines in the house at a time, tastefully displayed. My end game will be selling all in a few years and winding up with a Vic 6 with matching Herzog as my windup, and the RCA 331 Duo I bought from gemering a few months ago and hope to be able to get back here to Oregon soon as the 78/ 33/ Electrola/ changer.

I also collect "shaded dog" and other audiophile classical 33s, as well as the rock I grew up with so I'll hang onto our big Telefunken console in the living room and the Dual 1009 and Pioneer SX-950 I've had since new with Telefunken, Magnavox, and Goodman speakers in the record room.

I love these machines and have a lot of fun repairing/ preserving them, but I don't ever regret moving them on to good homes, with the exception of my sea green Columbia Europa that I still wish I had back a decade after selling it.

Guess I am mainly a record guy, and in that realm it's opera/ classical/ jazz. Someone will have real fun going through my nearly 50 year collection when I check out. I keep checking eBay to see how rich I am! The market prospectus is looking really great.

When I started collecting over 50 years ago the hobby seemed to me to be divided between machine men and record men. This distinction has largely disappeared, and I have always had a foot in both camps. I have made it my policy not to specialise in any one make or genre. I like variety in my collection.

My machines currently comprises one cylinder phonograph, one disc Pathéphone, three open horn gramophones, two cabinet models and twenty-two portables. Why so many portables? I like the variety of colours and styles, and they don't take up too much space. My everyday player is the E.M.Ginn Expert Minor with electric motor.

I have never counted my records, but there are probably about 2000 78rpm discs, a few Pathé discs and about 200 Blue Amberols. I want nothing to do with wax cylinders and their problems, and have never been tempted by Diamond Discs which would mean yet another format to collect.

My musical interests include opera, classical vocal, pre-WW2 jazz/dance bands and military bands. I also collect any unusual labels which come my way.

I am determined never to cross the invisible line which separates the collector from the hoarder.

No waning of interest here. I retired nine years ago and those years are the best I've had in our hobby. I've continued my annual road trip from Oregon to Union. In addition I've flown to Orlando and Wayne twice. I keep a rough track of phono dollars in and out and those records confirm my increased activity. I enjoy the hunt. It's like an Easter egg hunt for an adult. I enjoy good projects. I enjoy the buying and selling process at shows and meeting people that have never heard a cylinder record. I love the social aspect of our hobby both here on the Forum as well as locally with OTAPS in the Pacific Northwest.

It's always a compliment when a potential buyer asks if the finish is original or refinished. The other compliment I love to hear from friends is the statement that they always see something new in my basement. Often it is an item that has been there a long time but never noticed until then.

I am a collector to the core. I found out years ago that you can spend a whole day antiquing and never find a phono item. So I branched out and enjoy other items. I have the luxury of a finished basement and in it you'll see classic bikes, a yo yo collection, my childhood toys, Oregon Duck stuff, Mad Magazines, and things that I describe as being "basement worthy". There are even four toilet paper dispensers in the basement bathroom. One is a regular one. Another has a duck that waddles when paper is pulled off. Another has a built in radio so you can keep up with with the Duck game while taking care of business. The last on is a two tune music box dispenser that plays when paper is pulled off. I'm a collector and I love it.

Happy collecting, Jerry Blais

Personally, my interest in cylinder records has waned over the last couple of years and I have shifted my collecting focus entirely to Victor products and disc records - its just what I like. I've owned just about every format of record and machine and I realized that disc records hold the majority of the music I enjoy listening to. Record-wise, I am very picky about what I buy or take in. I really enjoy having a manageable & orderly archive of things I love. I'd rather spend $30 on a record I really like vs. $30 on a whole box of records I'm indifferent about.

Everyone has a different style and motivation for collecting, that's what makes this interesting!

For my own part, I've only slowed down in acquiring new machines simply due to financial reasons, but otherwise, I'd still be going on with a full head of steam. I began serious collecting very few years ago with little regard for the recordings that would correspond to the machines I own, but over the last year or so, that's changed -- as I've grown a little more comfortable with which recordings are interesting to me. After all, that's an incredibly vast topic!

Now I pick and choose those records as I find them available, judiciously. But I wouldn't say my interest has waned; in fact it has increased.

Happy Holidays,
Fran