Mahogany Home Horn Question

[Dave D]

I am working on an Edison Home in a mahogany case that George tells me is from 1906. Am i correct that the proper horn is probably a 14" black and brass one? I think the Edison morning glory was not available until 1907 and I see no sign that there was ever a crane on this. Would horns with flowers painted on them have still been popular in 1906? I have a nice floor crane and red flowered horn that would pair nicely with this. Not sure what I should do.

Sincerely,
Dave D

[phonogfp]

Flowered horns were popular from late 1904 until 1908 or so. Your red flowered horn would be appropriate for any Home from 1906.

George P.

[Jerry B.]

Didn't the Edison Company offer morning glory horns because they were missing out on so much business generated by the customer demand for larger horns? I've always wondered why the vast majority were offered in basic black. Maybe the trend was away from flashy flower decorated horn towards basic colors. If I owned a mahogany Home that showed no signs of ever having a crane, I would leave it that way. If I wanted to display it with a large horn, I'd use a floor crane. Does anyone have an idea for the percentage of Homes that were mahogany? Jerry Blais

[Dave D]

Thanks, George. It is nice to know that my plan is not historically inaccurate.

Jerry, this one came to me partially taken apart and with no horn. The man I bought it from had owned it for about 40 years. He worked for a local moving company and the previous owner gave it to him on moving day. He placed it in his attic and never did anything with it until he saw my ad in the paper and called me. He had a floor model Victrola which was the reason he called me. I went to look at it and told him I was really more interested in Edison cylinder type machines. He said he had one in the attic that might be good for parts. He took me into the attic over his garage where he had all kinds of cool old stuff. We made a deal right there in the dim light and when I got it home and brushed off some of the dust, I was surprised to see it had a mahogany case. He thought it was a parts machine because he was not sure if it was all there or not. The only thing missing was the horn.

I agree with you about not adding a crane since it never had one, but the use of a floor model crane would not be adding anything to it that it did not originally have.
Dave

[phonogfp]

I agree with you about not adding a crane since it never had one, but the use of a floor model crane would not be adding anything to it that it did not originally have.
Dave

Should you ever tire of the floor crane, you can always use a common Hawthorne & Sheble crane or a Tea Tray Co. under-the-cabinet crane, as they require no modifications to the cabinet. When using these, I like to add a bit of self-adhesive felt to the cranes at points of contact with the cabinet. The H&S cranes originally had brown felt pads, but they have usually fallen off.

George P.