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epigramophone wrote:Here is the Zonophone puzzle record :

VERY interesting! Thank you for posting this image.

Best,
Fran

Thank you very much for posting!

Andreas

"Since I have never even seen a puzzle record I would be very interested in seeing pictures of a few. Is it obvious from looking at the grooves that they are puzzle records?"

Andreas,
The problem with finding puzzle records is that they look like ordinary nondescript records for the most part - the giveaway comes from playing them. Some indicate on the label that they are puzzle records, but most only hint at that. They come in various titles and labels, so that looking through a quantity of records at a shop you might miss them as being ordinary uninteresting records. It is hard to discern from looking at the grooves that they are different and most collectors have never seen them, probably because they have overlooked them. They range in age from late 1800s (Berliner discs) to early or mid 1930s, 40s and 50s. Some later issues were made on vinyl, but it seems the prime period is 1931-32 for shellac 78s. There are ones with multiple songs, comedy type party records, fortune telling records, horse races, boat races, limericks, children's story sets, numbers games, etc. They were originally conceived by Emile Berliner in the 1890s and his son expanded on the idea by marking starting points on certain records usually labeled A and B, so you could choose the recording you wanted more easily, otherwise it was just random chance.

Thanks for the explanation Curt. So I’ll have to keep my eyes open and hope that I notice one some day.

Happy
Andreas

epigramophone wrote:Here is the Zonophone puzzle record :

I have a copy of this record as well! It is really great looking and I have the original Zonophone sleeve. Interestingly enough, I started working on a YouTube video of the record that I will have ready in a few days. I will post it when it is done. I really like Puzzle Records. They are lots of fun to show people.

Anyone wanting a horse race puzzle record should check this listing out. I have this or I would buy it, as the price is reasonable and is a buy it now:
Magic Disc Playing Game - Six different winners per side and has the game board
You can play a horse race with this record, which is in very good condition.

Price ex shipping cost
Prijs: € 35.00

Located in the Netherlands from this dealer:
http://zwarteschijf.nl/show-serie.php?serie=37

Here is a video with all 6 of the songs on the Zonophone Coronation Record from 1911. I put the songs in the video in the order they are listed on the labels. But, it was a bit tedious to get all 6 of the songs transferred. Lots of starts and stops. The starting grooves are pretty worn as you can imagine 100+ years of needle drops trying to find a particular song. Especially the second side of the record which contains "God Save the King". I think this record is very attractive and it was a fun little project.

[youtubehd]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KfsWu3AmSM[/youtubehd]