4 Spring Suitcase Home

[bostonmike1]

And because Homes from this period don't have hinges, I would be the door was there for easy access for oiling regularly. The owner probably didn't advertise four spring machines.

You could be right. I seriously doubt that the owner was "advertising four spring machines." The store where this was used probably sold clothing, cigars, hardware, or other typical Main Street merchandise. But any store having a specially-made machine like this one (especially a modification of such a well-known model) might well want to show curious patrons how it ran for so long between windings. Rather than pulling out the entire mechanism, the mainsprings could be shown by simply sliding the door open.

Oiling through that door would be inconvenient - - you'd be fighting against gravity. Those old metal oilers couldn't shoot oil as far up a tube as modern plastic ones! To properly lube that mechanism - whether the original single-spring or four springs - it would be best to pull the entire mechanism out of the cabinet.

George P.

George you too could be correct also. But another possibility is, it might have been used to play that crappy elevator music we are subjected to. Oh, wait!!! Elevators were not in existence back then.My mistake. :oops:I guess i should have skipped happy hour tonight.

[penman]

The first Otis passenger elevator was manufactured in 1857.

[bostonmike1]

The first Otis passenger elevator was manufactured in 1857.

Thanks for the info Penman.It is painfully apparent that my mental "elevator" has not left the first floor!

[catfishjohn]

Here are a few more pictures - including whats left of the repeating mechanism. I'm not sure if someone will be able to make the missing worm gear and parts from a picture but atleast now I know what they look like. The lid has a cutout to make room for the extra repeater parts on the cariage. They did a nice job maing the small metal cover and angled the bottom to blend with the molding. The last two pictures are of the other identical - but complete machine that belongs to someone else. I just realized that it has a serial number on the carriage rest but I can't quite make it out.

JerryVan - I hadn't noticed the cutout in the uppder casting - but I see it now. I see no obvioius reason why it is there.

Thanks for everyones input. - John P.

[martinola]

The serial on the complete machine looks like H28594. (This comes from using Photoshop, lots of squinting and a little guessing.) It's odd that the main boss should be missing the number. Both very remarkable machines! Neat find, John!

- Martin

[phonogfp]

That other machine's number looks like 28594 to me too. Interesting if these two machines are so closely numbered (within 25 of each other). It might suggest that they were originally purchased together from a dealer by the firm performing the modifications on a small run.

Thanks again for posting these, John.

George P.

[SonnyPhono]

Interesting machine for sure. I love this hobby because these things continue to pop up without a concrete explanation.

Regarding your repeater feed screw...would this work?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/230718103874?ss ... 1423.l2649

[JohnM]

I wonder if these Phonographs may have come from something like the 'Talking Crow' that was invented in Brooklyn. I don't have access to my library right now, but Allen Koenigsberg discusses it in his The Patent History of the Phonograph.