Need help identifying cylinder phonograph

[fran604g]

It's odd, isn't it? There's no good reason to prop a lid against the machine's cabinet, but yet we see it all the time.

It's also curious how things like this can get under our skin. For me, it's curtain tassels hanging down the fronts of machines from keys or even knobs. It looks crazy to me. Still, there's no harm done, and I wouldn't hesitate to buy a machine just because it was festooned with tassels. To each his own.

...And in the spirit of the season, here's an early present:

The attachment 171.jpg is no longer available

George P.

[phonogal]

When I was a youngster, my Grandpa attached the gate key that opened the lock on the gate of the horse corral to a 1x4 piece of wood so I wouldn't lose it. At least a tassel looks better than a 1x4.

[Mormon S]

Wow. I guess I am alone in the fact that I like the way tassels look when hanging off the key of an upright machine...

[phonogfp]

Wow. I guess I am alone in the fact that I like the way tassels look when hanging off the key of an upright machine...

No, you're by no means alone. I'm possibly in the minority on this topic, as there seems to have been a fad for this over the past decade or so. Online I've seen tassels hanging from the key and from all 4 knobs of a Victrola! I expect someone hangs a tassel on a crank too. Again - there's no harm done in any of this. Live and let live, I say...

George P.

PS: Francis, you're a very disturbed man...!

[Curt A]

Chuck, you asked:
"Why do most of the ebay sellers *always*
have the machine's lid propped up at an angle,
resting on the edge of the machine?"

I believe that it was started by the seller "Firebottles" on eBay (one of the members of the Forum whom many of you know) and is a more artistic way to display an item for sale. Since he is a very successful seller on eBay with unique descriptions and pictures that heighten the interest in his listings and command higher prices, many people have tried to duplicate his marketing methods. Staging a machine like this, allows you to see the machine, the lid and everything that goes with it in an attractive presentation and that is the name of the game when marketing anything. It looks a lot better than a picture of the lid separately, the machine separately and any accessories separately... Lids are functional, but not necessarily attractive, especially when laying flat on a table (which they don't do because of the latches). That is why most people don't bother to display the lids with the machines in a collection...

Just my two cents...

[fran604g]

Chuck, you asked:
"Why do most of the ebay sellers *always*
have the machine's lid propped up at an angle,
resting on the edge of the machine?"

I believe that it was started by the seller "Firebottles" on eBay (one of the members of the Forum whom many of you know) and is a more artistic way to display an item for sale. Since he is a very successful seller on eBay with unique descriptions and pictures that heighten the interest in his listings and command higher prices, many people have tried to duplicate his marketing methods. Staging a machine like this, allows you to see the machine, the lid and everything that goes with it in an attractive presentation and that is the name of the game when marketing anything. It looks a lot better than a picture of the lid separately, the machine separately and any accessories separately... Lids are functional, but not necessarily attractive, especially when laying flat on a table (which they don't do because of the latches). That is why most people don't bother to display the lids with the machines in a collection...

Just my two cents...

I agree. As a 5 decades long (very) amatuer photographer, to me it includes onto a very small "canvas" a complete and concise image that's both captivating and descriptive in its nature, thereby balancing both functional demands, and artistic expression. Just my likely depreciated 2 pennies, too.

Happiest of Holidays!
Fran

[fran604g]

PS: Francis, you're a very disturbed man...!

Hey! I resemble that remark!