Jerry Donnell's collection

[Steve]

For what it's worth.

http://www.gramophones.uk.com/informati ... le_oa.html

Yes, similar, but not the same thing!

[Garret]

For what it's worth.

http://www.gramophones.uk.com/informati ... le_oa.html

Yes, similar, but not the same thing!

PM sent.

[Kirkwood]

Once the auction is ended, this Donnell HMV won't be visible on-line for long, so here are the auction pics for posterity.

[Phonofolks]

Did anyone on this formum attend the Jerry Donnell auction today that can provide a report as to what phono items sold for including any unadvertised items?

[rizbone]

I got the Amberola 1A for 3K. the "missing" door was present. Found inside were three royal purple cylinders, a copy of Theodore Roosevelt's Social and Industrial Justice, a 4 minute Let Us Not Forget, a 5600 series cylinder. Also there was an M reproducer. On the down side one of the casters is rusted solid, and it has been re-finished. Also found was the receipt for $100 that Mr Donnell paid for it in 1956.

I didn't buy any more machines but remember a couple

The Crystola brought $90.
If I remember correctly the Amberola 5 brought $600 or so.
He got $14 each for the Regina 15.5" disks and over 4K for the player. I wish I had brought one with me to trade.

[Kirkwood]

Thanks for the update on the auction results, glad to know that Jerry's Amberola 1A has a good home. I knew he had a few Royal Purple cylinders, I have to think there were more in some of those boxes of Blue Amberol cylinders. Wished I could have attended in person, but had to work all weekend. Other friends I had counted on to be there opted not to go, in one case because he felt that the condition of the items he wanted to pursue was just too rough to warrant standing around at an auction all day. I understand that it was pretty hot & humid there, with no A/C nor even fans to make it more tolerable. That's the good old "country auction"----the tougher ones get the goods.

Wonder who scored the stash of Edison Diamond disc test pressings? He gave me one for Christmas one year, it looks like any paper-label-less Diamond disc except that it was laterally (and electrically) recorded.

[rizbone]

No idea, but they probably went for $10 a box. I opted not to look through the piles and piles of records and did not see any pulled out for special treatment.

[edisonplayer]

I called Dave Milefsky yesterday.He got the Amberola V.We remember Jerry having it on his kitchen table.Jerry would be pleased that his collection went to good,loving homes. edisonplayer

[edisonplayer]

I have a Polaroid snapshot that Jerry sent me of the HMV.Jerry was in it.edisonplayer

[Kirkwood]

In the days since the auction, I've heard reports of some of the results. The Victrola XVIII sold for around $1600; the HMV discussed previously in this thread sold for $375; a Victor V sold for around $750; and I understand that several parties ("Dealers from NY" was the term he used) had been through the records and had combined and re-combined albums and boxlots of choicer discs, which saw a bit of spirited bidding. No price info was given to me on those. There were items auctioned that never appeared in the web photos. For a country auction on a nasty hot and humid day, it seems the phonographs sold alright. The cars did well: the Model A went for $2000 (a tree had fallen on it and punched that hole in the fender), there were 2 Model Ts that sold for around $3000 each, both in really rough shape. The real shocker was how poorly the pianos and rolls sold. The got no bids at all on any of the reproducer players, not even the Steinway upright Duo-Art, and likewise no bids for that Aeolian Orchestrelle. I had heard both the Duo-Art and the Aeolian play when Jerry lived on Capital Hill, and would have loved to own either of them, but----no room. One friend decided at the preview not to attend the sale, partly because of mold and mildew issues in the furniture and paper items. Antique and collectible glassware and dishes were dirty and were in worse condition than they appeared in web photos. A friend of a friend bought the Regina and discs/cabinet, and afterward told of odd repairs made here and there. All of this probably dampened bidding enthusiasm as much as the weather. If the heirs had hoped to come out of this auction as millionaires, they were probably very much disappointed.