I didn't spend much at Union this year. For awhile, it looked as though I might not even spend as much as my traveling expenses, but I'm happy this was not the case. My wife, on the other hand, would have been happier the other way...
Although I tried to talk myself out of it, I brought home another Eagle Graphophone. I'm back up to six again.
But they're all different...!
After cleaning it up this afternoon, here's the latest addition:
In all seriousness, there can be a nice variety among Eagles. I spotted this one helping a friend unload his van, and despite my best efforts to resist, this one got to me. It's actually a rare Eagle.
Yes, a rare Eagle - - they do exist!
So what's special about this one...?
Most collectors know that Eagles were sold without cases for $10, and with cases for $12. Evidently, the "caseless" Eagles at $10 did not sell well. The Columbia catalogs didn't even offer the "caseless" model after 1898, and finding one today takes a bit of looking. A modern collector might wonder where the serial numbers were stamped on those "caseless" Eagles. Sometimes, the number was stamped into the edge of the metal base plate, as on this rather late example:
However, the serial numbers were also stamped into the belt covers for all "caseless" Eagles:
So what does this have to do with the one I found at Union? Well, it had the serial number stamped into the belt cover in the early style:
And I'm sure that sharp-eyed forum members have noticed that this supposedly "caseless" Eagle is sitting in a case!
What the...? It must be some collector monkeying around with spare parts again, right? Well...no. During the first year or so of Eagle manufacture, Columbia offered empty Eagle cabinets for $2 so owners of the $10 "caseless" model could upgrade their machines. Here's a catalog page from Columbia's September 1897 catalog. Note the second item that is priced:
If you think about it, those few cabinets that were sold empty to upgrade the $10 model would have had one unique feature: no data plate.
As you can see, this cabinet has no data plate, nor any tiny holes where one would have originally been mounted. This cabinet was sold as a $2 extra to convert an early $10 "caseless" Eagle. As such, I consider this conversion a legitimate rarity. For an Eagle guy like me, it was hard to resist. The cherry on the sundae was the tag on the lid (double-click any of the photos to enlarge):
So that's my big purchase at Union this year. Strangely, I'm very happy to have found something I didn't have, a rarity, and in one of my particular areas of interest. Unfortunately, it probably takes a real Eagle nerd to appreciate it...
George P.
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