Machine identification help

[Gareth]

Hello all:
I am new to talking machines and wondering if I could get some help. My wife purchased a talking machine for our anniversary and I am having trouble identifying make/model. I do not see any identifiable makes, names, serial numbers inside or out. Does anyone here have any ideas?

Thanks
Gareth

[Jerry B.]

Sorry but I can't give you a specific manufacture but I can help a bit. In the late teens the patents held by the big companies such as Victor, Columbia, Edison, and Brunswick began to expire. This made is easy for hundreds of small companies to enter the talking machine market. Some of these companies reached national prominence but others remained very small or survived for only a very short time. Many of these companies used generic parts such as the motor, tone arm, and reproducer to expedite manufacturing. I suspect your machine falls into this category of an "off brand" talking machine. This is not a bad thing. In fact many collectors specialize in off brand machines because of unusual features or designs. Is there any markings on the motor or reproducer? I hope this helps and welcome to the Forum.

Jerry Blais

[Jerry B.]

Do you have the crank escutcheon? If not, our Trader Section is a good place to find parts. What is the distance between the screw holes? Just follow the Trader guidelines and place your ad. Jerry

[phonogfp]

You may find this article interesting:

https://www.antiquephono.org/brand-talk ... j-wakeman/

George P.

[JerryVan]

What a nice wife you have!

[phonolamplighter]

Greetings Gareth and welcome to phonographs anonymous, we mean the Talking Machine Forum!

This is indeed an 'off-brand' phonograph, hey-day for manufacture was late teens and early twenty's. So let's do a little sluething on what you have.
A very nice grill pattern with the popular 'lyre' design in the center. Many, many grills have a similar look with subtle differences.
The record storage was the tell for us on your cabinet, unusual enough to set it apart from the rest.

Here are the images we used for comparison to your machine:
1 & 2> The All-Light Cabinet Co., made many styles of cabinets in 1919, including one like yours. These were not completed machines, but offered to the market to be customized by the enterprising phonograph 'manufacturer' that added motors and labels to satisfy their customer base.
3> The Eltnolean, very similar grill design, close, but not quite the same. Record storage is different too.
4> The Retrola, again, very similar grill, actually looks more like the Eltnolean grill pattern. Record storage is not a match to your cabinet either.
5 & 6> The Royal, Royal Phonograph Co., Inc., 606 Courtland Ave., New York City, 1919~~This is the brand that matches what you have, exact grill detail, AND the record storage looks identical.

We declare, by our limited research and knowledge, you have a Royal.

By the way, do you have the motor? If not, the Yankee Trader section may be where to find one. There is a wonderful membership on this forum and all willing to share their knowledge.

All the best,
Ed and Nancy

[Gareth]

Thank you all for the information. Ed and Nancy I think you might be right. Those pics you posted are a dead ringer for my machine!
Now to clean the motor and see if anything is broken/missing.

Thanks agin!
Gareth