Harger & Blish Talking Machine

[Phonofreak]

I was looking at the Phonophan Website and saw a very interesting phonograph. It is a Union machine made by Columbia for Harger & Blish. Harger & Blish was located in Debuque Iowa. I never heard of this company before. There is a pretty good description of the company and the machine. Has anybody seen this machine or heard of the company? I don't know how to post pictures. The horn looks very similar to the previous discussion about the tulip horn in the Forum. This is a very interesting machine to post for information purposes.
Harvey Kravitz

[phonogfp]

Harger & Blish was a large jobber/dealer in Dubuque, Iowa.

An article in the March 1906 issue of The Talking Machine World announced this:

BIG TALKING MACHINE DEAL

Harger & Blish purchase entire stock of Premium Machines from the Victor Talking Machine Co. Who Discontinue This Branch of the Business.

One of the biggest talking machine deals yet recorded was that made recently when L.F. Geissler, General Manager of the Victor Talking Machine Co., sold to Harger & Blish, Victor distributors at Dubuque, Ia. their entire stock of Premium machines, aggregating some ten thousand outfits...

"The Victor Talking Machine Co. have decided to discontinue the Premium Machine Department. The enormous growth of the business in our regular line is overtaxing our factory capacity and precludes our giving proper attention to our Premium Machine Department. In this emergency we have concluded a deal with Messrs. Harger & Blish, of Dubuque, Ia., our largest premium jobbers - to purchase, and have sold to them our entire stock of Premium machines, both styles 1 and 2 - all that are at present made up, as well as those in the process of manufacture in our factory..."

On commenting on the above we wish to say that Harger & Blish have the distinction of concluding the largest single purchase of talking machines on record.


The "Union" machine pictured on Phonophan's website is an example of a later Columbia machine based on the BL type used for the Standard X and X2, equipped with the "Tulip" horn (probably bought by Columbia in a close-out sale). The "Union" is a machine - likely an in-house "special" - that is rarely seen.

Here's a photo from the Phonophan website:

Unionmachine1.jpg (55.54 KiB) Viewed 1162 times

For many years, readers of The Talking Machine Compendium have been informed of the Harger & Blish/Victor Premium Machine deal, as described in the caption of Fig. 4-71.

George P.

[Phonofreak]

Thanks for the info, George. I appreciate it.
Harvey Kravitz

[phonogfp]

My pleasure, Harvey.

I thought I had a "Union" record to post in this thread, but it turned out to be a 7-inch "National" from Siegel-Cooper... I remembered a shield and a flag...oh well...

George P.

[Phonofreak]

George, Was the Union ID a decal or a painted metal plate?
Harvey Kravitz

[phonogfp]

A decal.

George P.

[TinfoilPhono]

I love the way the grain of the oak conforms to the shape of the decal in the Phonophan offering. Nice touch!

[STARR-OLA]

Very nice decal wood grain,looks 3d almost.