Who Is This Mystery Collector..??.

[TinfoilPhono]

Up to 1966, when I paid an astonishingly high price of $85 for an Edison Opera, the most I ever paid for any phonograph was $25. That was the top budget. Most were under $15, many were free.

I violated the $25 rule twice. Once was for a Zonophone Type A at $27. The other was for a Columbia BO Graphophone with a half-barrel cabinet full of cylinders. That cost $40 so I rationalized it as $25 for the phonograph and $15 for the cabinet and records.

But we had no clue what was rare and what wasn't. I paid $25 for a Gem B because I had never seen one, or even heard of one, so I assumed it was rare. Duh. But my Graphophone Type A with gutta percha reproducer and morning glory horn with stand was $17.

The first phonograph I ever bought was a VV-IX for $5. The second was a Columbia BKT for $12. The third was expensive: an AB Graphophone with 4 Edison Concert cylinders for $20. I still have that one.

Cylinders were 10c, tops. Discs were much less.

However, as shocking as those prices seem today we have to bear in mind that my father earned $12,000 a year, and my mother didn't work. Not to mention they put two of us through college. So $25 was a big investment. Fortunately it paid off: I sold the majority of my collection when I moved out after college and we made a very good return on the investment.

EDIT to add: the photograph in question was for a newspaper article, as I posted about earlier. That article, and a later short local TV appearance, led to a lot of great finds. I bought a mint Zonophone Parlor for $7 after the article came out. One night we got a call and someone brought over a Graphophone Type Q in near-mint, complete condition. As with the Gem, I hadn't seen one and assumed it was rare. The owner proceeded to say that he found it in a dumpster, and an antique dealer offered him $10. My father thought about it a bit and finally asked "would you take $10 for it?". The guy replied "sure, from him (pointing to me), but not from a dealer!" Being a 'cute' kid paid benefits.

[oldphonographsteve]

Up to 1966, when I paid an astonishingly high price of $85 for an Edison Opera, the most I ever paid for any phonograph was $25. That was the top budget. Most were under $15, many were free.

I violated the $25 rule twice. Once was for a Zonophone Type A at $27. The other was for a Columbia BO Graphophone with a half-barrel cabinet full of cylinders. That cost $40 so I rationalized it as $25 for the phonograph and $15 for the cabinet and records.

But we had no clue what was rare and what wasn't. I paid $25 for a Gem B because I had never seen one, or even heard of one, so I assumed it was rare. Duh. But my Graphophone Type A with gutta percha reproducer and morning glory horn with stand was $17.

The first phonograph I ever bought was a VV-IX for $5. The second was a Columbia BKT for $12. The third was expensive: an AB Graphophone with 4 Edison Concert cylinders for $20. I still have that one.

Cylinders were 10c, tops. Discs were much less.

However, as shocking as those prices seem today we have to bear in mind that my father earned $12,000 a year, and my mother didn't work. Not to mention they put two of us through college. So $25 was a big investment. Fortunately it paid off: I sold the majority of my collection when I moved out after college and we made a very good return on the investment.

EDIT to add: the photograph in question was for a newspaper article, as I posted about earlier. That article, and a later short local TV appearance, led to a lot of great finds. I bought a mint Zonophone Parlor for $7 after the article came out. One night we got a call and someone brought over a Graphophone Type Q in near-mint, complete condition. As with the Gem, I hadn't seen one and assumed it was rare. The owner proceeded to say that he found it in a dumpster, and an antique dealer offered him $10. My father thought about it a bit and finally asked "would you take $10 for it?". The guy replied "sure, from him (pointing to me), but not from a dealer!" Being a 'cute' kid paid benefits.

All I can say is wow! Even accounting for inflation those prices are staggeringly low compared to what they are today. I sure would like to find phonographs in dumpsters, if only I were so lucky! It sure does make you wonder what items we have around today that will be collectors items in the future. I am willing to bet that early home computers will be valuable collector items in the near future, I've already seen some early Apple computers go for more than $2,000 on ebay. Also, you are right that being a "cute kid" does get you benefits! When I was around ten years old antique dealers frequently cut prices very generously when I was buying cylinders, records, and phonographs. Now that I am 17 the "cuteness" factor has pretty much worn off.

-Stephen

[TinfoilPhono]

The Henry Ford Museum paid $750,000 for an Apple II computer in 2014.

Years ago I predicted that the earliest computers might become collectible. I regret that I never acted on my belief. I blew that one!

[PeterF]

But there is a difference: No Edison phonograph was as super-valued during its creator's lifetime. But Woz is still very much alive.

This short video draws some parallels that might amuse the Edisonians here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07gdGiLAQqc

[Victrolacollector]

Ah, to be young again....

And to buy phonographs at such low prices.

It seems you started at the right time, back before phono prices shot up. In fact, it appears that your machines look to be in pristine condition. The banner logo looks like it probably did when it left the factory. I'm sure aside from the low prices, there were alot of nice machines to be had in very good condition.

Fast forward to today...many machines can be found easier online etc., however the condition and prices are the factors.
many poor condition machines and prices that are high. Although, it seems prices and interest have slowed down after the 2008 recession.

I really enjoyed your you tube video which showed the early tin foil machine in operation.

All the best,

Jerry P.

[Andersun]

Rene,
Thanks for sharing your story with us on your early collecting. It brings back the early collecting memories. My early collecting was started at age 14 in the mid 1970's. My price for outside horned phonographs was always $150-$200 if it worked, and $50-$75 if it didn't. Most of my machines were obtained in Southeastern Michigan and 90% of them were Edison brands. My dad would front the cash and drive me to the farmhouses and then put my debt notice up on the refrigerator. My mother and brother thought I was a kook but my dad looked at it as at least he's not out doing drugs or blowing money on a junk car! Every year I would get a booth at Union in the tents and the collectors would attack me like vultures!

[phonogfp]

Rene,
Thanks for sharing your story with us on your early collecting. It brings back the early collecting memories. My early collecting was started at age 14 in the mid 1970's. My price for outside horned phonographs was always $150-$200 if it worked, and $50-$75 if it didn't. Most of my machines were obtained in Southeastern Michigan and 90% of them were Edison brands.

All this does bring back memories. I fall between Rene and Steve as to when I started (1967). At that time most any Edison with a flower horn was $75 in antique shops - and that's what I paid for my first Standard B with a flowered Tea Tray Co. horn. By around 1970, these same types of machines were bringing $150 in shops, and by 1974 they were $225. (If you consider what common Standards and Homes are bringing now, and allow for inflation, they really haven't gained anything.)

Every year I would get a booth at Union in the tents and the collectors would attack me like vultures!

I remember you back then, Steve! For some reason, no one seemed to know your name, but referred to you as "the kid." (Geez - weren't we all "kids" then? ) It was tough getting a look in your pickup truck for all the guys crowded around. You always had some good stuff. In 1980, the guy I traveled with to Union (Mark Kaplan) bought a traveling-turntable Aretino from you. It was a basket case, but he was tickled to get it. I had never heard of it; it was the first one I'd seen.

As a teenager in 2016 I have found it rather hard to afford phonographs.
-Stephen

I know that feeling well, Steve. As my meager earning capacity grew from 1967 onward, it seemed that the price of antique phonographs went up correspondingly and always kept them just out of comfortable reach. I think that's when I learned to scramble to make a deal. Thank goodness for my dad, who never understood my fascination but fronted me needed funds on many occasions. As prices grew, I made acquaintance with my local banker as well. Paying a little interest was better than losing the deal. One year at Union, when a "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity presented itself, I made the deal with cash fronted by a friend, for an amount I didn't have back home. I called our banker (I was married by then) back in New York from Union (this was long, long before cell phones!) and nervously asked if I could get a loan for the amount. To my intense relief, he told me that a check would be waiting for me Monday morning. Whew! Within a month I had sold two phonographs and an extra car to pay off the loan. (By the way, if you can find a wife who will tolerate such shenanigans, you'll be a lucky guy. )

Personally, I'm glad that I did not come from a wealthy family, and that I usually had to scramble to buy antique phonographs and related items. These days, when I look at something in my collection that just fell in my lap, my appreciation is limited to the item itself. But admiring something that took everything I could muster in order to bring it home... That's a special satisfaction. There's a life lesson there in the nobility of work. Those who work for what they have (whether they're wealthy or poor) are blessed with a satisfaction absent from those who have everything given to them. Keep up the good work, Steve!

George P.

[TinfoilPhono]

Well, I bought the negative. I pretty much had no choice, right?

The part that mystifies me is that 2 other bidders went after it. Who on earth would possibly want it?

[TinfoilPhono]

After the auction I wrote to the seller to tell him the picture is of me, and the background behind it. He just replied:

I traveled to Mass. & purchased the entire negative work of the Newspaper photographer spanning 1950-1980. This purchase weighed 650 lbs. according to the Auctioneer. I can't tell you how much fun I had going thru all the negatives, it took me weeks & weeks. It really is a small world, glad you found this & Thanks!!

[phonogfp]

Congratulations, Rene!

You are clearly the guy to own it, and it is curious that someone else would want it - a glass negative no less.

George P.