Plug for the Orlando Show

[Jerry B.]

Friends from Florida delivered the things I purchased earlier this year at Orlando. It's been long enough that I had forgotten some of the swell items purchased in Florida. So Orlando things and Union purchases are making this a great phono summer.

My big purchase was a Columbia AO/AW. The disc style reproducer makes it an extra special machine for me. Thank you Herman. I also bought some terrific smalls from Steve M. I have been to the Orlando Show three times and it has always been a good time. Richard B. and Bob C. do a wonderful job of organizing and staging the event. It is, in my opinion, one of the friendliest sales in the country. Keep up the good work!

Jerry Blais

[Herman]

Was my pleasure and happy this treasured machine goes to a good home.

[NEFaurora]

I 2nd that...

The Orlando Phonograph show is great. Great people , Great vendors. I have gone for many years...but the last few years I had been unable to attend...

One problem always eludes me though.... Every time I go, All my money goes missing!!

Wish the event was held more than once a year...like at least 2 or 3 times a year!


Tony K.

Edison Collector/Restorer

[Raphael]

Jerry,

I've been exhibiting at the Orlando show for the past 20 years, except for the last two when I've stopped exhibiting (for reasons too arcane to be of interest here). Depending on the venue, I may exhibit again in January 2020.

But the show has shrunk considerably since 1999. I'd estimate it's about a third of it's original size. Why? the reasons are myriad, but just as antique shops have almost vanished from the landscape, shows such as this are made somewhat redundant due to the internet. Sure, true collectors and aficionados want to attend shows, but the newbie who wants a nice decorative showpiece for his home can search the web and get something that fills the bill in a matter of a few minutes.

Additionally, we have the advancing ages of dealers and collectors alike. Look around at the attendees at Union or Orlando, the average age seems to be 70+. I used to joke that I didn't know who was older, the clients or the antiques, but that doesn't seem so funny anymore now that I'm looking back at 70.

Many prominent dealers have died off or are too infirm to exhibit, and very few replacements are waiting in the wings.

Just as music boxes have suffered from waning interest (very few people can remember their family having had one, just as Model-T era cars have become a drag on the market), phonographs may soon begin to suffer the same fate. Who among us can remember grandpa's wind-up Victrola?

All the changes in our society's communications and buying habits have weighed heavily on such shows. I don't have any of the answers, but until somebody can figure out how to get the younger generations interested in wind-up phonographs, I think the shows will disappear over time.


Raphael

[Jerry B.]

I think the shows will disappear over time.

The exception was the 2018 APS show. The APS folks in charge of the show reached out to millennials and other groups to promote the sale and it worked. Sales and interest were brisk and I sold all day long. It's not hopeless.

Jerry Blais

[Raphael]

I think the shows will disappear over time.

The exception was the 2018 APS show. The APS folks in charge of the show reached out to millennials and other groups to promote the sale and it worked.

I've not been able to attend the APS show, but I've heard the same from others. It does inspire hope for the future.

Raphael

[Mormon S]

Jerry,

Additionally, we have the advancing ages of dealers and collectors alike. Look around at the attendees at Union or Orlando, the average age seems to be 70+.

Raphael

I have been actively selling phonographs for a while now, and as a young person with friends of the same age and interest, the problem is apparent to me. The community outside of the forum is very small and sees no communication from any large collectors or organizations. I have been trying to add to the communities on Instagram and reddit, and there is an interest there.

The thing that Is a roadblock to the hobby is the prices. It is harder to find things "in the wild" for a decent price, and at first sight, it seems that buying things outright or at full price is the only option. Couple that with the oversaturated market for antiques, and even the ones you find in antique stores in mediocre condition are overpriced. Nowadays, the way antique stores decide on a price is to look it up on Ebay, which is accessible to everyone and is usually on the high end.

Many things seem unobtainable to lower or middle class young people, and that just offsets them from anything phonograph related. Building wealth is also harder now, hence this article:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/20 ... /96530338/

Once the market drops it will be accessible to more people, and will be rebuilt again.

Martin

[phonogfp]

The community outside of the forum is very small and sees no communication from any large collectors or organizations. I have been trying to add to the communities on Instagram and reddit, and there is an interest there.

Your timing is perfect. Earlier today, there was an exchange of emails among APS Board members about establishing an APS Instagram account and an informational APS Facebook Page separate from the current APS Facebook group.

I can vouch that the APS receives hundreds of inquiries a year about antique phonographs, but those are limited to the people who find the organization through a Google search. Outreach is important, and the APS is actively working to increase that.

George P.

[c5fan]

Why doesn't APS put a show on for members and collectors in the east, south or northeast for the same reason? Why just California?

[phonogfp]

Why doesn't APS put a show on for members and collectors in the east, south or northeast for the same reason? Why just California?

Well, I should point out that there's an excellent show promoted by Mike Davecka in Wayne, N.J. every October and April and it's been running since 1998. But it takes a lot of work to set up a successful show, and we at the APS are all volunteers. The APS Expo has been up and running for many years and that crew have things well organized, but it's clear that at some point in the not-too-distant future, younger blood will need to step in and help in California.

I think nearly all of us on the APS Board are in their 60s or older, and the same situation looms. No one has yet stepped up offering their services, although to be fair the APS hasn't advertised a need, nor have any of us formally submitted our resignations to the APS Boards. We believe in the organization and what it's trying to do.

But the short answer to your question is that it takes volunteers to do the work. Right now, less than half the members of this Forum are APS members (for two and a half bucks a month in the U.S.). That isn't very encouraging, but maybe there are folks reading this who would be willing to help with a show. If so, just send the APS a note through the "Contact Us" page on the web site:

https://www.antiquephono.org/contact-us/

George P.