Early Edison Standard Question

[SonnyPhono]

I apologize if this has been covered, but I can't find much on this phono. I have an Edison Standard Model A with the square top. I was reading about the Standard in Frow's Guide To Edison Cylinder Phonographs and couldn't find my Standard listed.

It shows the earliest Standards having the square top design with two "suitcase" clips, one on each end of the phonograph. Then, it moves on to the model B with the rounded top and banner. My Standard has 4 clips. Two on the front and two on the back.



My reference material says that the Standard was introduced in 1898 and had clips at each end. In 1901, the cabinet was changed with a rounded cover and banner transfer. Does anyone have any info on my phonograph? It has 4 clips. Was this a later variation of the square top Standard? The serial # is S26067 if that helps at all.

Thanks for the help!

[phonogfp]

Sonny,

Yes - the "Suitcase Standard" was supplied with 2-clip cabinets (earlier) and 4-clip cabinets (later). I'm not sure of the approximate date/serial number when this occurred. Hope this helps - -

George P.

[martinola]

Hi Sonny.

To elaborate a bit on George's answer, the change from two clip to 4 clip Standard A cases seems to be between serial # 19,448 (2 clip) and 19,850 (4 clip). I know of one exception to this: a 4 clip case on a machine in the 15,xxx range. I'm sure there are others out there. These cases were very easy to swap and old dealer replacement is always possible. The New case Standard A (with the curved lid) seems to be in the 45,xxx range. I'm still hoping to come across machines with original documentation to provide hard dates. My ballpark guess that yours may be from somewhere around late 1899 to early 1900. My Standard data sheet keeps growing, so perhaps someday I'll have better answers for you. Until then, enjoy the machine!

Martin

[SonnyPhono]

Thanks for the quick answer George.

Martinola, thank you very much for helping to estimate it's production. That was something I was wondering myself. I would love to find that it is from late 1899. I don't have any phonographs dating before 1900, so that would be nice! : ) If you do come across some documentation helping to further establish production dates using serial numbers let me know. Thanks again for your help and explanation!