Millenials and Edison cylinder phonographs

[Tpapp54321]

I'm only fourteen but I honestly can't imaging living without my familiy's old "junk" I think it's always great to wrap myself up in my great grandmothers old quilts when I feel down or look at my old family photos of my great grandparents who have passed through albums instead of swiping a screen I also find myself trying to rearrange my room so I can fit one more floor model phonograph instead of just tossing them all out. Unfortionatley I have noticed that some people I'm friends with do tend to be one of these "mellenials" but most of are thankfully like me and tend to lean towards the "junk" side. Although I am not like my friends when it comes to using things like Instagram, Facebook, etc. but who has time for social networks when you've got phonographs
-Tom

[wjw]

This thread reminded me of the current plight of old pianos. Country-wide, if
that old piano isn't of extra-special interest, it's headed for the dump.

[bbphonoguy]

“They are living their life digitally through Instagram and Facebook and YouTube, and that’s how they are capturing their moments. Their whole life is on a computer; they don’t need a shoebox full of greeting cards.”


"Take Kelly and Josh Phillips, who rent a 700-square-foot apartment in the District’s Shaw neighborhood. The couple frequently sells things on Craigslist and calls an Uber instead of owning a car. “My parents are always trying to give us stuff,” says Kelly Phillips, 29, a real estate marketer. “It’s stuff like bunches of old photos and documents, old bowls or cocktail glasses. We hate clutter. We would rather spend money on experiences.” Her husband agrees. “I consider myself a digital hoarder,” says Josh Phillips, 33, who is opening a Oaxacan restaurant, Espita Mezcaleria, this fall in Shaw. “If I can’t store my memories of something in a computer, I’m probably not going to keep them around.” "

Anybody beside me notice something a little ironic? They hate clutter, they don't want shoeboxes full of stuff, they'd rather spend money on "experiences" (because somehow, unless it costs money, it doesn't count as an experience), BUT THEY SELL THINGS ON CRAIGSLIST!?! So, apparently, this trend hasn't wiped out people wanting "stuff".

One quick interjection. If they're living their life digitally, they're not living their life.

[fran604g]

This thread reminded me of the current plight of old pianos. Country-wide, if
that old piano isn't of extra-special interest, it's headed for the dump.

Guilty, and I'm far from young. I had an old "Keller Bros." upright with me since I moved here in 1982. After it became quite apparent that none of my 4 children wanted to use it, I came to the realization that it was worthless, and I listed it for free on CL.

Nope, not even crickets, so I completely dismantled it out in the yard and listed the parts on CL for free.

Someone actually came and took the keyboard, action and some other miscellaneous parts. Couldn't interest him any of the cabinet, though. I still have the plate and the key bed kicking around looking for a use.

Fran

[De Soto Frank]

Pianos are tough...

When I was just out of college, I was thinking about going into working as a piano technician, and did tuning for a while... I quickly found-out how many "bad" pianos are out there...


Some were just sadly neglected, and many were "built to meet a price-point", and weren't terrific when they were new.

They're big, heavy, and in spite of those two qualities, fairly delicate. They don't like extremes of heat and humidity...

Take a mediocre instrument, add some cracks in the soundboard, splits in the bridges, loose ribs, loose pin-blocks, badly grooved hammers, and an abused cabinet, and the repairs quickly far and away exceed the "fair market value" of the instrument.

Last year, I "rescued" a Packard upright player from a cottage on Lake Cayuga, NY. It was "free". But the U-haul truck rental, mileage, and fuel, plus lunch for the two friends that came along to help, tallied up to nearly $500. "But it was free!"

When I closely examined the piano, when I pulled the keys to vacuum the key-bed, all the felt regulating washers were gone, as was all the strip-felt: eaten by moths ! The only felt left are the hammers ! I haven't given-up on it yet, though...

[fran604g]

Pianos are tough...

When I was just out of college, I was thinking about going into working as a piano technician, and did tuning for a while... I quickly found-out how many "bad" pianos are out there...


Some were just sadly neglected, and many were "built to meet a price-point", and weren't terrific when they were new.

They're big, heavy, and in spite of those two qualities, fairly delicate. They don't like extremes of heat and humidity...

Take a mediocre instrument, add some cracks in the soundboard, splits in the bridges, loose ribs, loose pin-blocks, badly grooved hammers, and an abused cabinet, and the repairs quickly far and away exceed the "fair market value" of the instrument.

Last year, I "rescued" a Packard upright player from a cottage on Lake Cayuga, NY. It was "free". But the U-haul truck rental, mileage, and fuel, plus lunch for the two friends that came along to help, tallied up to nearly $500. "But it was free!"

When I closely examined the piano, when I pulled the keys to vacuum the key-bed, all the felt regulating washers were gone, as was all the strip-felt: eaten by moths ! The only felt left are the hammers ! I haven't given-up on it yet, though...

You make a great point, Frank, once I hauled mine out side, it pretty much fell apart by itself. I hadn't realized how completely the glue joints had failed.

I knew then why many old pianos aren't sought after.

Fran

[wjw]

It's not just old uprights being dumped. I have a 1902 Knabe 6'4" grand that is still in the garage at my old house in Fla. Double overstrung, beautiful harp,rosewood case (not an "art case") and in wretched condition.

I have no room for it anymore and it could never be worth the cost of restoring. I will Craigslist it in April as a freebie and hope it will survive.

[TinfoilPhono]

My wife has a 1959 Wurlitzer that has followed her throughout her life. It spent too many years in the sun porch, fading and deteriorating. She got very upset when there was a roof leaf and it degraded the finish, which was already very poor.

She flew back east to be with her elderly father. Immediately after I dropped her off I went to the hardware store and started a huge refinishing job.

It was massive. I had no idea what I had gotten myself into. But I managed to completely strip the horribly degraded old finish and redo it. It's gorgeous. I did some major rearranging and got it back into the living room. Then I hired a tuner to get it to play as well as it looks.

So now it's prominently positioned, looks superb (I can't believe I did that!!!), but she almost never plays it............

I am sure that our daughter will eventually put it on the curb, hoping someone will take it. My endless hours of work are lost.

[edisonplayer]

I can remember seeing Victrolas and other cabinet phonographs in the Volunteers of America store in Binghamton,NY in my early days of collecting(late 1970's-early '80's).Them days are gone forever. edisonplayer

[VintageTechnologies]

I can remember seeing Victrolas and other cabinet phonographs in the Volunteers of America store in Binghamton,NY in my early days of collecting(late 1970's-early '80's).Them days are gone forever. edisonplayer

I once met a collector who rescued a Berliner "Trademark" Gramophone from the curb in Detroit on trash day as recently as the 1970s. It was missing the horn, so he knocked on their door. Sure enough, the people found the horn in their basement. We know that everything has at least *some* value, even manure. What were those people thinking to pitch an antique like that?