P. A. Starck Classique Phonograph

[EarlH]

I bought an RAE 26 a few weeks ago up in Minneapolis and the guys wife said I had to take both machines they had. Which was fine. I honestly had no interest in this machine (and still really don't) but it's an oddball and because it has a Sonora tone arm, I thought it was a Sonora. I removed the tone arm and motor to get it out of the basement and didn't really look at the decal under the lid until I got it home. I just thought it was a dealers decal and let it go at that. So, after I got it into the house I realized my mistake and also that I had no idea that the Starck piano company ever made (or sold) phonographs.

You can see it has an odd record storage system in it and the legs are nicely done. Overall, the cabinet is well made and it was probably kind of an expensive thing it its day but certainly not because of any overall improvement in phonograph design. It just has nicely carved legs, and it's big of course. The volume control is a knob that turns and it slides a felt covered thing over the opening just beneath where the tone arm goes into the horn. The grille cloth is long gone and it had some thick red upholstery material tacked behind the grille openings.

So, here's another odd machine to look at. I know nothing about how much of a dent the Starck people made into the phonograph market, but it couldn't have been much. If they made an upright machine with these heavily carved legs, it might be a pretty nice looking machine. It needs to be refinished quite badly but seems to have some nice looking mahogany under the old finish. Maybe I'll do that before I get rid of the old girl. It will have a better chance of surviving if it looks nice. The lid had something spilled on it and the varnish is muddled up on that.

[OrthoFan]

That should clean up nice.

Here's a Starck Classique tonearm & reproducer, BTY:

FROM: http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/s ... 1789945594

OF

[estott]

Their pianos were very nice quality




[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBvp_5K5thM[/youtube]

[phonolamplighter]

Love your machine.
We have a Cowan Classique, model number 7.
Here is a picture of an advertisement and our machine showing the gold tonearm.
How did your restoration come out?

[EarlH]

I actually haven't done anything with it to be honest. There's a guy down by St. Louis that wants it pretty badly, and I told him he could have it if he wanted it. I don't have anyplace to put it even if it was 'front room ready'. It's an interesting looking machine, and has nice details to it, but overall it's kind of clunky looking. The proportions aren't quite right or something.

It's interesting they would call it a gramophone. That's more of a generic British term for a phonograph isn't it? I know they wouldn't want to call it "phonograph" in those days or they might have gotten the Edison people aggravated with them. Maybe there wasn't really any other generic term for a record player in those days and I suppose they needed something sort of nice to call them.

That's nice advertisement for these things. I really like the tone arm on the one you have. Too bad this one got away from it, but I guess that's how it goes. It's a wonder it hasn't been made into a toy-box or some such thing. The record storage is very unusual as well. Well thanks for sharing the old ad. I would have had no idea they made so many model available. They must have made cabinets when they had spare time between pianos.

[gramophone-georg]

I actually haven't done anything with it to be honest. There's a guy down by St. Louis that wants it pretty badly, and I told him he could have it if he wanted it. I don't have anyplace to put it even if it was 'front room ready'. It's an interesting looking machine, and has nice details to it, but overall it's kind of clunky looking. The proportions aren't quite right or something.

It's interesting they would call it a gramophone. That's more of a generic British term for a phonograph isn't it? I know they wouldn't want to call it "phonograph" in those days or they might have gotten the Edison people aggravated with them. Maybe there wasn't really any other generic term for a record player in those days and I suppose they needed something sort of nice to call them.

That's nice advertisement for these things. I really like the tone arm on the one you have. Too bad this one got away from it, but I guess that's how it goes. It's a wonder it hasn't been made into a toy-box or some such thing. The record storage is very unusual as well. Well thanks for sharing the old ad. I would have had no idea they made so many model available. They must have made cabinets when they had spare time between pianos.

Actually, a "phonograph" originally referred to a cylinder machine, while Emile Berliner invented the "gramophone", which is a flat disc machine. The distinction between the two was always universal, until, for some reason, Americans started calling them all phonographs. Without having any real historical reason to do so, I'm going to pin the whole thing on Columbia when they became the Columbia Phonograph Co. but exclusively manufactured disc machines. How close am I?

Early on, Eldridge Johnson used "Gram-O- Phone" too, after he took over the Berliner USA operations following the Patent Wars. Then Johnson's company became "Victor Talking Machine Co"., as distinct from that old pirate Frank Seaman's "Zon-O- Phone" I'd guess. Strangely enough, "Talking Machine" seemed to be more universally applied to disc machines than "phonograph" until VTM went all RCA, if you read articles and ads from the teens and twenties when off- brands proliferated.

The USA seems to be alone in universally applying "phonograph" to all machines. Canada retained "Gramophone" at least into the early Thirties if I recall, and Europe still uses it for disc machines today, e.g. calling a gramophone- equipped entertainment center a "radiogram", Deutsche Grammophon, etc.

I've always used both terms properly, and still do. Being a NYC- born East Prussian German, I just had "do it correctly or not at all" drilled into my head so often that my compass just automatically points to due anal as it's in my blood and my thick skull!

You got an RAE26? You lucky dog! Is it the two- speed changer? I'm pretty sure this was the machine that began my fascination. My grandparents had one in Clifton NJ in the '60s, down in their basement, with all the 78s they bought when they were younger. Its place in the living room was taken by a Magnavox Concert Grand. I'd love to have one of both machines but I couldn't afford it! The priority is the RAE. I used to watch it for hours, fascinated, and learned to love the music, too. They were married in April 1930 in NYC and were Stork Club members. They saw a lot of great bands- that and collecting records was a hobby they shared.

[EarlH]

Who knows on some of that stuff. I lived over in Britain for 18 months or so back in the early 1980's and everyone called their vacuum cleaners a "Hoover". And they "Hoovered" their carpeting. Edison's advertising must have paid off on the phonograph term. It's kind of funny really how things like this get into the language and get stuck there. Especially with later generations that have no idea what the reference is even about. When I was a kid there was an old gal near me that would ask me to play my Graphophone for her when she came over. It was a Victrola so I knew she grew up with a Columbia machine but she couldn't remember anything about it. Like the guy that was convinced my '41 Buick was a '54 Dodge "just like his father had"...

[RolandVV-360]

Hey! I bet you feel lucky to have bought an RAE-26...

I've been searching for a darn long time, and I haven't seen a single one. If you can share some pictures of the RAE-26, or even a video, I'd greatly appreciate it.

[Silver1Wun]

I have this model and am curious if anyone knows what material the tone arm is made of. I'm about to clean and recondition the unit and would like to also know where is a good source for gaskets, etc.

[Curt A]

Earl, That Starck phonograph is a beautiful piece of highly detailed, high end antique furniture. The ball & claw feet are seldom found, except on high end examples. Apparently, Cowan Classique and Starck Classique are the same cabinets, since the Cowan Classique #8 looks exactly like your Starck machine. If you were anywhere near NC, I would try to talk you out of it (if you still have it). That machine ranks right up there with the best high end phonographs... even though you might not be familiar with the manufacturer.