Oak Edison H-19 on UK eBay

[epigramophone]

From recent discussions I understand that oak machines are more sought after in the USA. This one must be a rarity here in the UK :

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271551353912? ... 1423.l2649

[Curt A]

The H-19 machine in the US is not highly revered... it is completely different from the one you posted. Actually, the US version is a homely little machine, at best... as seen in this picture.

[epigramophone]

I am no expert on DD machines, but the serial number plate clearly shows H-19.

If it is not an H-19, what is it?

[gibsonj]

An H-19 never had a ogee lid, and never had french doors. This one has clearly seen some modifications.

John

[epigramophone]

An H-19 never had a ogee lid, and never had french doors. This one has clearly seen some modifications.

John

That explains a lot. It is not the first DD machine I have seen in a non-standard cabinet. An elderly collector who lives near me has a DD mechanism installed in an HMV Model 156 cabinet, a design based on the Victrola VV4-3 Consolette.

The gentleman is somewhat reclusive, but if I get the opportunity I will take pictures of this Anglo-American alliance.

[52089]

I am no expert on DD machines, but the serial number plate clearly shows H-19.

If it is not an H-19, what is it?

This is assembled from Edison and non-Edison parts. The lid appears to be from a C-150 or S-19, ID plate from an H-19, but is attached to the falsework (which Edison never did). The cabinet is not Edison, nor is the grill. The side has been redrilled with a second crank hole. The crank is also odd.

Anybody know what that odd "Edison" crank escutcheon is in the extra crank hole?

[Wagnerian]

The cabinet is certainly not any Edison design that I know, I wouldn't even swear to the lid being Edison either. I cannot imagine why someone would go to the trouble of fixing the H-19 plate to it though.

If you want something to play Diamond Discs, you can still pick up a proper DD player quite cheaply in the UK. There is an L-19 Louis XIV in the next SAS sale which would represent much better value.

Tim W-W

[Curt A]

Initially, I never looked at any of the other pictures in this listing, except for the main one. After looking at the "crank side" picture, I am not certain that another crank hole exists. What looks like an extra crank hole appears to be some type of Edison decal placed on the side. Are you guys sure that this couldn't be an English version of the H-19? The H-19 was not popular in the US and maybe the guts were sent to England and placed in an English manufactured cabinet...? Not a far stretch, since the Gems sent to England had English made spun aluminum horns clearly marked "London" and fumed oak cases... maybe English tastes varied from the US enough to do this and was a good way to get rid of H-19 stock. Just sayin'...

[Curt A]

An H-19 never had a ogee lid, and never had french doors. This one has clearly seen some modifications.

John

One thing about Edison machines that I think we can agree on, is that you can never say "never"...
Anyway, whatever this is, the cabinet is a much more attractive one than the H-19...

[Wagnerian]

I can fully agree that with anything Edison you can "never say never", but I still have my doubts whether this is any kind of Edison product.

If the H-19 was a poor seller in the US why take out the mechanism and send it to the UK? I don't know much about the H-19 but surely the bed plate, horn and motor would have been of pretty standard dimensions and could have been fitted into, presumably, many other Edison cabinets in the US that were better sellers?

It doesn't seem logical to ship the mechanism over to the UK to be placed in a different cabinet by someone else - there was no Edison manufacturing capability in the UK by this time and yet still call it an H-19. In any case, "Hepplewhite", of course, refers to the syle of cabinet rather than the mechanism.

Even for Edison this does not make any kind of sense, it would have been more logical to ship the excess cabinets over to be used for something else. George Frow in "Edison Disc Phonographs and the Diamond Disc" records the H-19 cabinets being offered for sale in the US to house Amberola 30s after 1927.

My hunch, for what it is worth, is that there was an H-19 but the cabinet got damaged or infested with woodworm or something and a restorer put the servicable bits, including for some reason the ID plate, into a different cabinet.

All of this is only my opinion and I'm more than happy to be corrected.

All the best

Tim W-W