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Featured Phonograph № 74 - Period Grafonola- Adam (P-3)

Featured Phonograph 73 was in December 2010... It's Sunday, "Featured Phonograph day". ...maybe someone wants to be the first in almost a year. *hint hint*

Ok, here's one I haven't seen posted in the past.

Make: Columbia
Model: Period Grafonola- Adam (P-3)
Serial #
Year(s) Made: Introduced in 1917
Original Cost: 600. raised to 700 in 1920, then reduced again to 600 in 1921
(from Baumbach, 1996 Columbia Phonograph Companion vol II)

Case/Cabinet Size: H- 36" W- 50" D- 21"

Turntable/Mandrel: 12"
Reproducer/Sound-Box:
Motor: electric motor
Horn Dimensions: inside horn, I didn't mess with taking the grill off.
Reproduction Parts: just the power cord. The seller actually plugged in the frayed, worn, original to show that it worked- in his house. I suggested he unplug it quickly before he burned down the house.

Missing the original cover for the inside lamp

Current Value: betcha not as much as I pd for it ~ 8 yrs ago.

Interesting Facts: Rumored to have been once owned by Clara Bow, the original IT girl. Uh, guess that's not a fact, but somewhat interesting I guess.

Favorite Characteristics: Pretty decent black lacquer and decorated finish. I'm not big on Columbia floor models but made an exception when this one came along.
Steve

Very very lovely machine. Thanks for sharing.

I'd be surprised if it was actually owned by Clara Bow, since she didn't become a big star until the mid-late twenties, and this machine would have been outdated due to the Viva-Tonals and Orthophonics on the market. Still, who knows?

What a great machine. I love the artwork. Thanks for sharing. There seems to be enough space for quite a big horn, so I imagine it to put out a pretty good volume. I have a console Columbia with the same model 6 reproducer but probably a bit smaller horn and that's actually one of my favorite machines to listen to post 1925 records. Of course it cannot compete with the looks of this beauty.
Congratulations
Andreas

That's an eye-popper all right. You never see these!

I'd really like to believe that Clara Bow once owned this, but as bb said, the timeline isn't quite right. How about some research in old Photoplay magazines showing interior shots of her home? DNA testing?

Very nice machine in any event - -

George P.

I looked thru a bunch of pictures when I first bought it but didn't see any with a phonograph. Her biography, written by David Stenn, mentioned a Panatrope but with no pics either. I had hoped that it was just called by the wrong name. Then I came across this today.

http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/cl ... ssage/2058

"Just found out what model Panatrope she had; a Model P-2.

Looking at the schematic, it's VERY primitive. Three tubes, didn't even have a
real volume control--it was a five-step switch. As you turned it, it would
advance the volume with each click.

All the same, it was cutting edge technology and very expensive in 1926, as it
was the first electrically-amplified phonograph. Ms. Bow must have been very
proud of it.

Looks like it was a mahogany cabinet. Must have been a real gutbuster to
move"

My bubble is burst!! Steve

The only celebrity I've seen pictured with a Grafonola is Margaret Woodrow Wilson who recorded for Columbia. Alas, it's not the same model. (President Wilson himself had a VV XVI and recorded for Victor)

I like these special models very much. Customers (my guess is that it was the landlady in most cases) chose phonographs which fit their style of furnishing best. A view of a complete contemporary furnishing with the Adam model inbetween would be very interesting.

Current Value: betcha not as much as I pd for it ~ 8 yrs ago.

I'm with ya there Steve on more than one of the items in my collection but you know what, if an item came along that I was really interested in "above market price" I'd do it all over again.

Very nice machine. I'd only seen advertisements for this one up til now.