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I just looked at this link on another part of the forum , https://www.antiquephono.org/brand-talk ... j-wakeman/ what a lot of different machines ! but the Gabel-ola at over 5ft tall , and automatic is extraordinary , does anyone` know if any have survived ?

Examples of their commercial coin operated machines survive, I'm not sure about the home models: http://www.rickcrandall.net/gabels-auto ... tertainer/

Here's a video of the Gabel Automatic Entertainer which, according to the YouTube poster, is from 1913 -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqAFvtCwcF0

It would be great to see a fully restored unit in action.

OrthoFan

Here is my 1929 Gabel Entertainer still in the pile to be restored ,apparently many of the acoustic machiner were retrofitted in 1929~30 in new cabinets and Webster Amps and tonearms were added

Here is a pic of me next to our Gabel Automatic Entertainer, serial 815, which is one of the earliest ones made. Yours appears to be a serial number above 9000, which is the highest number I know of, perhaps one of the last ones made. It definitely appears to be a very late mechanism. It probably was originally an acoustic version with needle changer, recalled back to the factory and updated with later electrical amplification. The original cabinet size and style would have been very much like this one.

Russie very good information about serial numbers,thanks ,now the folks on the board have seen TWO Gabels in one post!,what other late twenties early thirties commercial machines are just sitting around your house??

Thank you. I'll just add that what you have is very significant in that it shows the resourcefulness of the factory, The Automatic Machine Tool Co, and the longevity of this wonderful device which they created. The popularity of the Gabel was so great, that when Wurlitzer introduced their first machine in 1934, Gabel Entertainers were so well placed in the market that it was hard for Wurlitzer to find buyers for the Debutante. Within a few years, Wurlitzer was offering to give significant credit towards the purchase of a new Wurlitzer, with the exchange of a Gabel. They then destroyed all those Gabel machines, using photos of men swinging sledge hammers at them, to help promote the replacement of Gabel machines with a new Wurlitzer. Here is one of the few other brands which was able to barely compete with the Gabel before 1934. It's a 1930 Mills Troubadour.

Does it have an operadio amp and speaker like the “ hiboy”?, beautiful machine

Here is a pic of the amp and speaker. It is an inverted Operadio speaker. The amplifier may be an Operadio, but it has a Mills tag on it. In a few days, I'll post a couple of pics of some of our other pre-1930 machines. Cheers, Russie

Cool stuff looking foward to more