The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I recently found a Victrola XI from a local Craigslist posting. The price was too good to pass up so I grabbed it. After I got it home I discovered there was an old photo in a round frame slid down inside the slats of the horn opening. I fished it out and it was a very old photo of a man. I called the lady back and asked her if she knew about it, her response was that it was a photo of her husband's grandfather. I told her I would bring it back to her so that her husband would have it back. She said "No, don't worry about it". I thought it was odd....but, at least I tried to do the right thing. Another time I was bewildered by the low volume of a Credenza machine and upon removing the grill I discovered a VERY large pair of womans underware stuffed into the horn very tightly, that was a good laugh. I guess "Stuff a sock in it" wasn't quite adequate in this case!

What bizarre items have you found inside of machines you have acquired?

ColoradoPhonograf

Apart from the odd needle box rattling around and a lot of dead flies I've never found strange things inside gramophone I bought. I did use a sock to muffle the sound when my parents complained they didn't hear the talk show presenter but since I needed that afterwards to go out with my girlfriend I retrieved it.

I once bought a VV-100 at auction as it went cheap, and when I tore down the motor I found a rose gold bangle bracelet behind the slats inside the horn. It had an inscription on the inside that was from either a husband to a wife or perhaps a father to a daughter and was dated 1921.
I always wondered how soon after receipt that had gone missing and if some child had stuck it in there.

Bill

Do dehydrated mice count as a good find ?? Bet it smelled great in it's prime.

Maybe not as good as the ladies underwear though.

LOL

fmblizz

Found a 1941 Penny in my VV-IX. I immediately checked on the web if it was worth a fortune, and yes, it has nearly quadrupled in value
Also found some dried cicadas in the tonearm and reproducer of my HMV.
Andreas

When I first got my Opera and played it prior to re-building the Reproducer, I noticed the sound was greatly diminished.

What I found when removing the diaphragm



What the cause of the diminished sound was!



Six moths had apparently crawled down inside the Reproducer from the horn opening. Needless to say, I wasn't expecting this!

Bill

I've found most things in Diamond Disc machines because of the myriad openings into the cabinet, I suppose: a HUGE rat's nest made from thousands of steel needles, three color litho 'Sheik' condom tins, several 7" Berliner, Consolidated, Johnson, and Zonophone discs behind the divider slats of a C-19.

Wow, you guys have found some interesting things! I can't say that I have found anything of real interest... usually just the expected stuff like unused bamboo and Tungs-tone needles, dead bugs, spider eggs.

That said, I did find a 1906 Indian head penny. However, my return on value for my penny is much better than Alang's, (though I won't be retiring to Hawaii anytime soon); because it is graded XF, it's worth a whopping $7.60. Cha-ching!!

I'd sure like to know the backstory behind the bloomers in the box!

Amberola 1-A wrote:
Six moths had apparently crawled down inside the Reproducer from the horn opening. Needless to say, I wasn't expecting this!

Bill

At least they weren't cockroaches! UGH!

I found an card that was an invitation to a prom inside the horn area of my Amberola 1-A. The purple card is about the size of a business card and was printed in a fancy gold print. Is that a dance card? There were no names on the back.

Another time I found a 1910 dime in the concave area of the cast cygnet bracket on my Fireside.

It's so exciting to find a treasure inside a phonograph. Both of my items will stay with the machine with a little note.

Great thread! Jerry