FOR SALE: Holiday Greetings From The Bunch @ Orange E- $395

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PeterF
Victor IV
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Joined: Sun Jul 08, 2012 1:06 pm

FOR SALE: Holiday Greetings From The Bunch @ Orange E- $395

Post by PeterF »

Here is one of the rarest Edison Diamond Discs, a spoken Christmas greeting from the Edison Phonograph Division management - plus Thomas Edison himself - recorded on November 25, 1924, pressed only once and in extremely limited quantities, and sent to Edison jobbers and dealers. The record was never offered for sale to the public, and the total original number was probably about 500 or less. As a specific dated item of limited enduring interest at the time, most were likely discarded soon afterwards, so few remain.

It's a pep talk, encouraging the sales force to keep their hopes up, and make lots of money selling a promised improved line of phonographs and records, in the new year of 1925 after the dismal 1924. It's a fascinating artifact on several levels, because you get an idea of their business approach and attitude towards adversity, plus some of them have really entertaining accents and ways of speaking the language.

It's also one of only two recordings of Edison's voice ever officially recorded and issued by Edison. He was 77 when this recording was made.

You can hear it on YouTube (just search on "Holiday Greetings From The Bunch at Orange") if you're curious, too.

This particular example came from the estate of the proprietors of a California general store, which stayed in business from Gold Rush times through the middle of the 20th Century.

Although this record originally came with a custom sleeve, I found it misfiled in a different sleeve that completely obscured the center label. This not only protected the paper labels on both sides, but likely kept it from being played or abused. As you can see, it's in pristine condition with no marks on labels or playing surfaces, nor edge chips.

I'd rate it E- rather than E or even M, for light surface markings from being slid in and out of its sleeve. This is one case where the missing custom sleeve is a good thing, in a way. The good news is that high quality reproductions of the special sleeve are available - just do an internet search for Nipperhead or the Rolfs (the example shown in the photos provided here is an original sleeve, and is NOT available with this record).

Don't miss out - these don't turn up very often anymore.
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