Finding the original owner of a machine

[gramophone78]

It's not often that a modern collector is able to trace the full history of a machine that is over 120 years old. After a lot of research and the help of many others. I can now see the face of the first owner of our Berliner hand-wind.
I was to discover the lady was of Pennsylvania German background and traveled here via San Francisco. Her profession was that of a "hurdy gurdy" girl entertaining miners. As an entertainer, this may explain her wanting the latest "disc" Gramophone just coming out on the market. Since these lady's charged as much as $1.00 per dance. I'm sure she made good money.

I still wonder (being from Pennsylvania) if she knew Emile Berliner himself??. After all he had his shop in Philadelphia...???.

Records show she stay here in Canada and died in 1904 at age 60. Therefore, this photo show her in her later years. My Wife commented on how weathered and aged she looks for that age. I guess life was hard for pioneers of that time?.

Still it is a real treat to put a face to person that first bought a machine you now own.

[Henry]

If she "worked" with miners in Pennsylvania, assuming they were coal miners, she wouldn't have been too near Philadelphia. The nearest anthracite coal field to Phila., the Southern field, is in Schuylkill and Carbon counties, some 60 and more miles to the north and northwest. She could have ridden the Reading Railroad into Phila. from the Southern field or, even further removed, the Lehigh Valley Railroad from the Western and Eastern Middle fields via a connection to the Reading in Bethlehem. The soft coal is farther away yet, in central Pa. Unless she had the means to travel, it's probably unlikely that she would venture down to Philadelphia, but your conjecture is as good as mine.

[gramophone78]

If she "worked" with miners in Pennsylvania, assuming they were coal miners, she wouldn't have been too near Philadelphia. The nearest anthracite coal field to Phila., the Southern field, is in Schuylkill and Carbon counties, some 60 and more miles to the north and northwest. She could have ridden the Reading Railroad into Phila. from the Southern field or, even further removed, the Lehigh Valley Railroad from the Western and Eastern Middle fields via a connection to the Reading in Bethlehem. The soft coal is farther away yet, in central Pa. Unless she had the means to travel, it's probably unlikely that she would venture down to Philadelphia, but your conjecture is as good as mine.

No,she was following "gold"..... . Also by 1895, she would have been 51 and not a young woman but a woman of means. By this time her husband and her were running a ranch/stagecoach house. In fact, her husband owned and was running a saloon in the 1860's and it is believed he may have hired her to perform in his bar. She was one of the first group of "hurdy's" to arrived at the gold rush up here. Based on the records of the day, it was common for the miners to get married to these girls. Women were not too prevalent.... .
Like others of the day....she must have ordered the machine or it may have been sent to her by a family member that was still in Pennsylvania...???.

Again, I would think she had a love for music and hence the interest. Maybe she owned a copy of "Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight"...???.

[Henry]

Well, they didn't call anthracite "Black Diamonds" for nothing!

The Pa. Dutch are known for sticking close to home, so for her to pull up stakes and move out West was a very adventurous thing to do.

[STARR-OLA]

wow,great work,its really quite a task trying to find the original owners of talking machines.i have a BI graphophone from a baron,but that was his families auction so i got lucky.he was a speedster and died in a violent car crash in 1926 and i listen to his player.kinda nice to know where they came from.im interested in the steps you took .

[Lucius1958]

Very interesting!

Now, I don't know what particular sort of miners she was entertaining. The California gold rush started in 1848/9, when she was only 4 or 5 years old, so we can discount that; however, there were certainly silver and gold strikes in Nevada and Colorado in the 1850's and 60's, which would seem much more likely.

San Francisco would probably have been a move upward, once she had made some money, and/or got married...... I suppose she still wanted to keep up with the times in the 90's....

Incidentally, as an amateur player of the hurdy-gurdy (the folk instrument - not the barrel organ), I've come across the occasional reference to these entertainers. They probably weren't musicians themselves, but maybe something like taxi dancers; perhaps mechanical music was used often enough to earn them that name?

Bill

[gramophone78]

Very interesting!

Now, I don't know what particular sort of miners she was entertaining. The California gold rush started in 1848/9, when she was only 4 or 5 years old, so we can discount that; however, there were certainly silver and gold strikes in Nevada and Colorado in the 1850's and 60's, which would seem much more likely.

San Francisco would probably have been a move upward, once she had made some money, and/or got married...... I suppose she still wanted to keep up with the times in the 90's....

Incidentally, as an amateur player of the hurdy-gurdy (the folk instrument - not the barrel organ), I've come across the occasional reference to these entertainers. They probably weren't musicians themselves, but maybe something like taxi dancers; perhaps mechanical music was used often enough to earn them that name?

Bill

Actually, this gold rush was in the Northern part of Western Canada starting in 1862. The lady arrived there via San Francisco in 1866 with a small group of "hurdy's". Her future husband arrived in 1862 also via San Francisco. He opened a "Stable & Feed" store and bought claims from miners. However in 1867 he converted his stable into a saloon and it is believed he hired and met his future wife from this. However less than a year later 1868 (due to fire) they moved south and ran a ranch and stagecoach station on the way to the gold fields. Her husband died in 1903 at 74 years of age.

It is my understanding that a fiddle was one of the instruments used by the musicians as the hurdy's danced.

The Berliner's history was not too difficult to trace. After the lady died in 1904, her daughter placed the machine into a private museum in 1921. The Gramophone sat in a glass case until I removed it and took ownership. Therefore, I guess I'm one of few owners the machine has had.

The hard part was to locate a photo of her. Unfortunately, micro film provides a very poor image. It was a lot of fun to investigate this. Of course all the information will stay with the machine... .

[mcgravy]

How neat! My wife and I have a berliner trademark that we know who the original owner was but don't have a photo of him. I think I'll start looking and see if I can track one down. We bought it from his 91 year old grandson's estate. We also got 31 berliner records with it. A couple had the original owners initials scratched in on the back.

[John Svensson]

Just a warning, "The Gramophone sat in a glass case until I removed it..." this statement can be used against you in a court of law.

[gramophone78]

Just a warning, "The Gramophone sat in a glass case until I removed it..." this statement can be used against you in a court of law.

John, your just upset because I never returned "YOUR" hammer..... .