Is that a Columbia Grand tucked in next to the Opera?
I'd love to see some pictures of it.
Thanks to both of you for posting!
Gene
Gene,
The phonograph next to the Opera is a 1908 Columbia BC Graphophone.
In fact it is the "actual" BC from the former Ernie Bennett collection, Higham reproducer restored by Reid Welch in 1984, and highlighted on pages 74,75, & 145 in the Eric Reiss book "The Compleat Talking Machine".
I was extremely fortunate to aquire this machine in 2012 via some "horse trading" with Raphael Cole of Musical Treasures of Miami. It is an amazing machine producing the greatest volume of sound of any 2min. machine that I have ever heard!
I have been meaning to put together a video of this machine playing, but I just haven't gotten round to it. Reid Welch posted this video in 2008, which shows off this machine in all it's glory. (You may notice that he incorrectly identifies this machine as a 1905 BC, but the black carriage was actually introduced in 1908).
Enjoy, Bob S.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9PYd_29PhU[/youtube]
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPUoI32SGDM[/youtube]