Player-Tone Talking Machine Co; Pittsburgh, PA.
Posted: Thu May 15, 2014 10:36 am
Information on the Player-Tone Talking Machine Company; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
-Established:
The Player-Tone Talking Machine Company was established in September 1919 by Mr. Goldsmith of the Goldsmith Furniture Company and Railroad Sales Company.
-Location:
Player-Tone’s factory and sales room was located at 967 Liberty Avenue; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Player-Tone phonographs were sold at various furniture stores in the Pittsburgh area, a list of those stores includes but is not limited to: (as of 1919)
---Taylor Bros, 942 Penn Ave.
---A.Hamburger, 927 Penn Ave.
---The Household, 908 Penn Ave.
---Simon Solof & Son, 2000 Carson St., South Side
---Hahn Furniture Co. 6285 Frankstown Ave, E.E
---Goldenson Furniture Co., 1214 Carson St., S, S
---Kings Furniture Store, 223 Federal St., North Side
---Blum Furniture Co., 954 Penn Ave.
---Superior Music Shop, Superior & California. Ave., N.S.
In March, 1923 Player-Tone established a large retail store at 632 Grant Street along with United Furniture Factories.
-Products:
Player-Tone manufactured a large variety of affordable high grade mechanical phonographs. The company specialized in the furniture aspect of construction, ordering their mechanical parts from phonograph suppliers. The company purchased most (possibly all) of their early mechanics from the ‘Otto Heineman Phonograph Supply Company’ at 25 West 54th Street, New York. One of Player-Tone’s advertised features was its tone arm, a Heineman Tone Arm No.11 used on the floor models which featured a pivoting reproducer for playing vertical and lateral cut records. Player-Tones came in a variety of wood types, from golden oak to mahogany. To keep prices low some decorative ‘wood carvings’ on the phonographs were made of molded resin. The large floor model phonographs are made with wood veneers, with solid wood legs. Player-Tone's cabinets were cheaply made compared to larger brand names such as Victor, though they are still considerably nice. Many Player-Tone phonographs closely resemble other well known phonographs of the day, such as the Model 200 "Sonnet" which is basically a Victor 'Credenza' knockoff.
In 1919 the Player-Tone models ranged in price from $95 to $250 (accounting for inflation, those prices are equivalent to ~$1,301 to $3,425 as of the year 2014)
-Company slogans:
“It’s simply great” “World’s Greatest Phonograph”
-Company’s purchase by Sig Hahn:
In 1926, Sig Hahn bought out the Player-Tone Talking Machine Company and liquidated its current stock in a large sale.
-Company fate:
It is unknown exactly what happened to the Player-Tone Company; accumulated research reveals the following possibility:
The company likely closed down in the early 1930s after the stock market crash and a devastating warehouse fire. A warehouse fire on December 11, 1930 destroyed $15,000 of inventory; this is equal to $203,790 dollars today. It appears that the company was already struggling before the fire due to a listed ad for their company truck “Selling cheap for want of use”.-(The Pittsburgh Press/Page 39/March 9,1930) No information on the company has surfaced post 1930, increasing the probability that the company closed down in the early 30s.
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The following resources were used to establish the information on this post.
Information format: (Paper or Magazine Title/Page #/Year of publication)
-Listed in order by date:
(The Music Trade Review/Page 33/September 28, 1918)
(The Music Trade Review/Page 53/September 28, 1918)
(The Pittsburgh Press/Page 34/September 11, 1919)
(The Grand Rapids Furniture Record/Page 211/October, 1919)
(The Pittsburgh Press/Page 48-49/November 5, 1919)
(The Pittsburgh Press/Page 68/November 30, 1919)
(The Washington Reported/Page 15/December 31, 1919)
(The Crawfordsville Review/Page 6/July 6, 1920)
(Reading Eagle/Page 12/August 11, 1920)
(Presto/Page 17/March 31, 1923)
(Credit Memo Stationary/1 of 1/Jun 17, 1924)
(The Talking Machine World/Page 66a/July 15, 1926)
(The Talking Machine World, New York/September 1927)
(The Pittsburgh Press/Page 39/March 9, 1930)
(The Pittsburgh Press/Page 1/December 11, 1930)
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Related newspaper and magazine articles - Note: Blue and yellow highlighted areas are not part of the original graphic.
Company Established (1919):
Help wanted ad: The Pittsburgh Press/Page34/September 11, 1919 Starting the company: Article from ‘The Grand Rapids Furniture Record’ Volume 39, dated October, 1919. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Company Ads:
In order by date (1919-1927)
The Pittsburgh Press/Page 48/November 5, 1919 The Pittsburgh Press/Page 49/November 5, 1919 The Pittsburgh Press/Page 68/November 30, 1919 The Talking Machine World/Page 66a - July 15, 1926. The Talking Machine World - September 1927. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Ads and Listings:
(1919-1924)
The Washington Reporter/Page 15/December 31, 1919 Reading Eagle/Page 12/August 11, 1920 Credit Memo from the department store at 632 Grant Street, Pittsburgh, PA. This store was established in March, 1923. The credit memo is dated June 17, 1924.
-Established:
The Player-Tone Talking Machine Company was established in September 1919 by Mr. Goldsmith of the Goldsmith Furniture Company and Railroad Sales Company.
-Location:
Player-Tone’s factory and sales room was located at 967 Liberty Avenue; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Player-Tone phonographs were sold at various furniture stores in the Pittsburgh area, a list of those stores includes but is not limited to: (as of 1919)
---Taylor Bros, 942 Penn Ave.
---A.Hamburger, 927 Penn Ave.
---The Household, 908 Penn Ave.
---Simon Solof & Son, 2000 Carson St., South Side
---Hahn Furniture Co. 6285 Frankstown Ave, E.E
---Goldenson Furniture Co., 1214 Carson St., S, S
---Kings Furniture Store, 223 Federal St., North Side
---Blum Furniture Co., 954 Penn Ave.
---Superior Music Shop, Superior & California. Ave., N.S.
In March, 1923 Player-Tone established a large retail store at 632 Grant Street along with United Furniture Factories.
-Products:
Player-Tone manufactured a large variety of affordable high grade mechanical phonographs. The company specialized in the furniture aspect of construction, ordering their mechanical parts from phonograph suppliers. The company purchased most (possibly all) of their early mechanics from the ‘Otto Heineman Phonograph Supply Company’ at 25 West 54th Street, New York. One of Player-Tone’s advertised features was its tone arm, a Heineman Tone Arm No.11 used on the floor models which featured a pivoting reproducer for playing vertical and lateral cut records. Player-Tones came in a variety of wood types, from golden oak to mahogany. To keep prices low some decorative ‘wood carvings’ on the phonographs were made of molded resin. The large floor model phonographs are made with wood veneers, with solid wood legs. Player-Tone's cabinets were cheaply made compared to larger brand names such as Victor, though they are still considerably nice. Many Player-Tone phonographs closely resemble other well known phonographs of the day, such as the Model 200 "Sonnet" which is basically a Victor 'Credenza' knockoff.
In 1919 the Player-Tone models ranged in price from $95 to $250 (accounting for inflation, those prices are equivalent to ~$1,301 to $3,425 as of the year 2014)
-Company slogans:
“It’s simply great” “World’s Greatest Phonograph”
-Company’s purchase by Sig Hahn:
In 1926, Sig Hahn bought out the Player-Tone Talking Machine Company and liquidated its current stock in a large sale.
-Company fate:
It is unknown exactly what happened to the Player-Tone Company; accumulated research reveals the following possibility:
The company likely closed down in the early 1930s after the stock market crash and a devastating warehouse fire. A warehouse fire on December 11, 1930 destroyed $15,000 of inventory; this is equal to $203,790 dollars today. It appears that the company was already struggling before the fire due to a listed ad for their company truck “Selling cheap for want of use”.-(The Pittsburgh Press/Page 39/March 9,1930) No information on the company has surfaced post 1930, increasing the probability that the company closed down in the early 30s.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The following resources were used to establish the information on this post.
Information format: (Paper or Magazine Title/Page #/Year of publication)
-Listed in order by date:
(The Music Trade Review/Page 33/September 28, 1918)
(The Music Trade Review/Page 53/September 28, 1918)
(The Pittsburgh Press/Page 34/September 11, 1919)
(The Grand Rapids Furniture Record/Page 211/October, 1919)
(The Pittsburgh Press/Page 48-49/November 5, 1919)
(The Pittsburgh Press/Page 68/November 30, 1919)
(The Washington Reported/Page 15/December 31, 1919)
(The Crawfordsville Review/Page 6/July 6, 1920)
(Reading Eagle/Page 12/August 11, 1920)
(Presto/Page 17/March 31, 1923)
(Credit Memo Stationary/1 of 1/Jun 17, 1924)
(The Talking Machine World/Page 66a/July 15, 1926)
(The Talking Machine World, New York/September 1927)
(The Pittsburgh Press/Page 39/March 9, 1930)
(The Pittsburgh Press/Page 1/December 11, 1930)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Related newspaper and magazine articles - Note: Blue and yellow highlighted areas are not part of the original graphic.
Company Established (1919):
Help wanted ad: The Pittsburgh Press/Page34/September 11, 1919 Starting the company: Article from ‘The Grand Rapids Furniture Record’ Volume 39, dated October, 1919. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Company Ads:
In order by date (1919-1927)
The Pittsburgh Press/Page 48/November 5, 1919 The Pittsburgh Press/Page 49/November 5, 1919 The Pittsburgh Press/Page 68/November 30, 1919 The Talking Machine World/Page 66a - July 15, 1926. The Talking Machine World - September 1927. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Ads and Listings:
(1919-1924)
The Washington Reporter/Page 15/December 31, 1919 Reading Eagle/Page 12/August 11, 1920 Credit Memo from the department store at 632 Grant Street, Pittsburgh, PA. This store was established in March, 1923. The credit memo is dated June 17, 1924.