For All The Opera Lovers Out There

[StL Bill]

Several months ago I traveled through Michigan to pick up a Circassian Walnut phonograph that I had bought. The seller was an antique dealer, not a phonograph collector as such. In our conversation I mentioned the Edison A-425 that i had in Circassian , and to my shock he replied "Oh, there is one of those here in town". This being a small town in Michigan, I was skeptical. He called the owner and soon a deal was struck.As it turned out, it was a Edison A-300.It is one of the early cabinets that was factory converted from a Circassian A-1 to Diamond Disc. I believe that Valecnik (Bruce) did a Featured Phonograph on one like this in 2009. It has the Cloven Hoof feet and all of the conversion traits that Bruce described. As if this was not cool enough, this machine came from the estate of the Edison baritone artist Arthur Middleton. The story was told that this was given to Middleton when he signed with Edison and has been passed down the family until it was bought from Middletons Great-Grandson Jeffery Pierson. There was a large box that came with the phonograph.In it was a treasure trove of literature, personal and professional pictures of Middleton,family pictures, His will, The deed from his summer home in Westerly, R.I., Many pictures from his Australian Tours with Paul Althouse (an Edison recording Tenor), and many newspaper clippings from Middletons many performances around the country. Also publicity photos from his time with the Opera in N.Y. I have enclosed just a small amount of what is there, It gives a very interesting look at the life of a Edison artist. If you look closely at the picture of Middleton play solitaire in his New York apartment, you can see the Diamond Disc A-300 in the background. What great provenance! I hope that you enjoy seeing these as much as I have. Bill

[StL Bill]

More pictures;

[gramophone-georg]

WOW. Thanks for sharing this!

[Roaring20s]

Nice archive. Great find.

James.

[Steve Levi]

What a great find! Thanks for posting photos. The converted A-300 is an amazing find. Many congratulations! The box with photos and related paperwork is ONE OF A KIND!!! Steve

[CDBPDX]

WOW!!

[Curt A]

This archive is great and I'm glad it went to someone who appreciates it.... As a genealogist, all I can say is - this appears to be a foolish and careless oversight on the part of his great grandson... I would love to find family history like that.

[melvind]

That is a wonderful find. The machines and the archive. I love Opera related things and this is a find that will not come along often. Congratulations and enjoy them.

Dan

[Chuck]

Absolutely outstanding!

Looking at those pictures, I can just imagine
the sights and sounds which surrounded the scenes
which appear in these photos.

For instance, imagine what was going on in that
railroad yard at that time!

Or out on the street.

yet another window back to a distant time in the past....

[gemering]

Incredible!

If you don't mind, could you post some photos of the machine?

Best,
Gene