So, what do we do when we are out of room?

[Fonotone]

The hardest part has been painting it. I did all of it by myself with a manlift and a paint brush but I'm still not done after two summers! Labor of love indeed.

best to you
Bill

Amazing, Bill. Really.

-- Grant

[BillH_NJ]

Bill, your house and collection are beautiful! I have followed your posts on FB and seen some of what you have inside. We have an 1895 Victorian, but not as original and MUCH smaller at about 2500 sq ft for 3 floors. Fitting about 30 phonographs together with a few thousand shellac records and LPs, a player piano, and a harpsichord means that the rooms are pretty full already. There are a few other things I would get — more Plainfield-built Vitaphones, a Brunswick Cortez, and the like — but I think I am maxed out unless I get rid of some that are already here. Our daughter has said she is not interested in most of it, so I am not sure what will happen when we are gone even if she moves back into the house then. I hope things aren’t lost, but at least I am enjoying them now.

Bill

[UpstateNYBilly]

Bill, your house and collection are beautiful! I have followed your posts on FB and seen some of what you have inside. We have an 1895 Victorian, but not as original and MUCH smaller at about 2500 sq ft for 3 floors. Fitting about 30 phonographs together with a few thousand shellac records and LPs, a player piano, and a harpsichord means that the rooms are pretty full already. There are a few other things I would get — more Plainfield-built Vitaphones, a Brunswick Cortez, and the like — but I think I am maxed out unless I get rid of some that are already here. Our daughter has said she is not interested in most of it, so I am not sure what will happen when we are gone even if she moves back into the house then. I hope things aren’t lost, but at least I am enjoying them now.

Bill

Bill
Thanks for taking a look into my home and collection. Always fun to see what sorts of things people collect and appreciate. No two collections are ever alike.

I believe you recently purchased 2 Vitaphones from my buddy, Bill Meyer. He showed them to me the other day. They're really neat machines, particularly the smaller model, and the sound is outstanding - surprisingly so - on that phonograph. Congratulations!

Yeah, I think the idea is to live in the here and now and don't worry about what will happen when we're gone. No matter what we do now we still can't control what will happen then. So I just do whatever I choose however I choose to do it. An old toy store in my neighborhood growing up had a sign posted for all to see which read "Don't Postpone Joy". I try to make that my motto (and my excuse) when it comes to acquiring more "toys" from time to time. I figure since I don't smoke or drink or do any sort of drugs (not even coffee) I'm spending my money on something that I can enjoy repeatedly and not just in one puff or swallow

Best to you and your family
Bill

[BillH_NJ]

Thanks, Bill. Yes, I am getting the two Vitaphones. They were manufactured here in Plainfield, NJ, where I have lived since 1990. They are about 20 years newer than my house, but they will join the one Vitaphone I already have to bring a few machines back to where their history began. I am excited to get them!

Bill

[Victrolacollector]

Very interesting topic, an important topic.

I am in my late 40’s and have collected since I was 13. I have had a few uprights, lots of portables and tabletops, plus hundreds of 78’s and Diamond Discs and hundreds of cylinders and it does add up in money and takes a lot of space. Several years ago I sold many of my phonographs due to financial reasons. When finances were better, you betcha, I purchased more machines. In the past few years I have moved, and been downsizing and also realized that I just can’t lug machines around as easily.

If people are looking to invest in phonographs and make a return on their investment, it can be done but more so on very rare and pristine models. I find it has became even more difficult to get the amount that I have paid for a machine much less than the cost of parts etc. I never got into the hobby for money, it was the history, the fun and about the hunt etc.

Records are a different story, I used to see and bought some Edison 52000 records back around 2008 or 2009 and they would sell for 75.00 and up depending on the title, in todays market, many of those records would sell for about 10.00 each. I would hardly think that it was a monetary investment.

Today, we have eBay and marketplace and phonographs are coming out of the woodwork and there seems to be an over abundance of machines. Probably more machines than interested buyers. Back when I started collecting in the late 80’s, it was difficult to find machines and even harder to find parts. The internet changed all of that.

What I have realized that there is nothing wrong with downsizing, I realize that I can only listen to one machine at a time, listen to only so many records and that’s it. 200 78’s and 100 Diamond Discs is enough for me.

My suggestion that is, if you have enough machines for auction, I would call Stanton’s.

I usually sell one here and there on eBay, but the fees and the cost of shipping is astronomical.

All the best,

Jerry P.

[UpstateNYBilly]

Very interesting topic, an important topic.

I am in my late 40’s and have collected since I was 13. I have had a few uprights, lots of portables and tabletops, plus hundreds of 78’s and Diamond Discs and hundreds of cylinders and it does add up in money and takes a lot of space. Several years ago I sold many of my phonographs due to financial reasons. When finances were better, you betcha, I purchased more machines. In the past few years I have moved, and been downsizing and also realized that I just can’t lug machines around as easily.

If people are looking to invest in phonographs and make a return on their investment, it can be done but more so on very rare and pristine models. I find it has became even more difficult to get the amount that I have paid for a machine much less than the cost of parts etc. I never got into the hobby for money, it was the history, the fun and about the hunt etc.

Records are a different story, I used to see and bought some Edison 52000 records back around 2008 or 2009 and they would sell for 75.00 and up depending on the title, in todays market, many of those records would sell for about 10.00 each. I would hardly think that it was a monetary investment.

Today, we have eBay and marketplace and phonographs are coming out of the woodwork and there seems to be an over abundance of machines. Probably more machines than interested buyers. Back when I started collecting in the late 80’s, it was difficult to find machines and even harder to find parts. The internet changed all of that.

What I have realized that there is nothing wrong with downsizing, I realize that I can only listen to one machine at a time, listen to only so many records and that’s it. 200 78’s and 100 Diamond Discs is enough for me.

My suggestion that is, if you have enough machines for auction, I would call Stanton’s.

I usually sell one here and there on eBay, but the fees and the cost of shipping is astronomical.

All the best,

Jerry P.

Hey Jerry
Interesting take. My only thought on that is, phonographs have to live somewhere in the world. If we don't rescue them and provide shelter for the myriad machines out there, they're going to end up in landfills. Not enough people appreciate them for everyone to want to have one. Therefore, if fewer and fewer people are interested in collecting phonographs and records and some folks - like so many of us - have the desire and the means to collect a goodly amount of them, then there's no harm, certainly, in that pursuit. Warehousing is one thing but having many examples of the different makes and styles and eras of phonographs - well, I think that's what the whole hobby is all about. If someone doesn't need the money and they enjoy what they have, why liquidate or downsize? Rather than liquidate I prefer to accumulate - ha ha! My only fear is that if, in the afterlife, we are forced - like Jacob Marley - to wear around our necks the burden of our avarice, then I've got to do some upper body strengthening if I'm gonna lug around a few Credenzas, changers, jukeboxes and thousands upon thousands of records!