Edison Mahogany opera. The note inside

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budsta
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Edison Mahogany opera. The note inside

Post by budsta »

I bought this 14 years ago off one of our dealers in these things here in Melbourne Australia. He purchased the Opera from an old lady in Sydney. Her husband had passed away but he had owned the Opera for "many many years and it was one of his prized machines". He had others by the sound of it.
I'm assuming the note inside was written by the person the husband had got the Opera off as it makes sense, and why would you write yourself a note on how to use it.
It gives tips on how to wind it up, how often to oil it and the last bit at the end suggesting making a dust cover for the horn and machine " so as to avoid dust settling on it" so this suggest to me, this was very much someone's pride and joy as it is mine.

Regards
Stephen
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budsta
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Re: Edison Mahogany opera. The note inside

Post by budsta »

Note how the finish has worn right through on the reproducer neck. Clearly this is where the hand was placed when winding.
Also not pictured is the lid which has a fabric centre section around the handle so it wouldn't mark the finish on the lid when it flops either side.

cheers

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Steve Levi
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Re: Edison Mahogany opera. The note inside

Post by Steve Levi »

Great story,interesting (very helpful) letter and one nice looking Opera phonograph! Thanks for sharing. Steve

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TinfoilPhono
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Re: Edison Mahogany opera. The note inside

Post by TinfoilPhono »

That is pure wonderfulness. What a great piece of history!

tomb
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Re: Edison Mahogany opera. The note inside

Post by tomb »

It is nice to see how much pride people had for there possessions in days of old. It must have cost them a pretty penny then so it was that persons treasure. Real nice machine Tom

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coyote
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Re: Edison Mahogany opera. The note inside

Post by coyote »

From the description of winding (don't let go of the handle, ease it back after winding), it appears that the mechanism doesn't always "catch" after winding, and the crank has a tendency to kick back. I wonder how many Operas are like this, as mine is the same way.

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Curt A
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Re: Edison Mahogany opera. The note inside

Post by Curt A »

Very nice machine...

"I'm assuming the note inside was written by the person the husband had got the Opera off as it makes sense, and why would you write yourself a note on how to use it."

I don't think the person who wrote this was writing to himself (unless he had a history of dementia in his family and was afraid he would forget how to use it... :lol: ).

I think he was passing on instructions to whoever he meant to leave it to at his death. I have thought about doing the same thing because I can't get my son to sit down and go over the operation of various machines and which ones play 2 minute cylinders or 4 minute cylinders or both, along with identifying which cylinders are 2 or 4 minute ones and the necessary reproducers to play them. We take this knowledge for granted, but younger people don't have a clue... On the other hand, he is an IT administrator and I have no clue how to do any part of his job...
"The phonograph† is not of any commercial value."
Thomas Alva Edison - Comment to his assistant, Samuel Insull.

"No one needs a Victrola XX, a Perfected Graphophone Type G, or whatever you call those noisy things."
My Wife

HisMastersVoice
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Re: Edison Mahogany opera. The note inside

Post by HisMastersVoice »

coyote wrote:From the description of winding (don't let go of the handle, ease it back after winding), it appears that the mechanism doesn't always "catch" after winding, and the crank has a tendency to kick back. I wonder how many Operas are like this, as mine is the same way.
Mine did that too. Caught me by surprise a few times!

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NEFaurora
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Re: Edison Mahogany opera. The note inside

Post by NEFaurora »

"why would you write yourself a note on how to use it."

Are you kidding?!??!?? People in their late 40's to 80's in age write themselves notes all the time... That is in no way out of the norm..!! They suffer from CRS - Can't Remember Sh*t!

Too funny, but True!

PS: Beautiful machine you have!!!

:o)

Tony K.

Edison Collector/Restorer

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