BC-34 Packing Slip - Decipher?

[CDBPDX]

I was cleaning up an Edison BC-34 cabinet and found a packing slip in the horn compartment buried under several layers of grease. Took some cleaning to figure out what it was and then what it said. The attached photo shows the result. The date section has letters, L for month and T for year. Is this a code or just someone running amok with a couple letter stamps?

This appears to be a wax coated paper. Is that the way they came?

Thanks! Cliff

P.S. - I used ZIPPO lighter fluid to clean the grease off.

[phonogfp]

This has a familiar ring to it...

http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... lip#p69041

George P.

[CDBPDX]

Thanks for jogging my memory. Now I'll have to dig out the packing slip from the S-19 and see if it has the same waxy consistency. I think the S-19 packing slip is earlier than the BC-34 packing slip.

Still no idea about the date code, though, if that's what it is.

Cliff

[phonogfp]

Let's start with the Months...

If we take as a working hypothesis that the letters of the date code correspond directly to the months of the year, then the S-19 was shipped the 30th of August (of some year), and the BC-34 in December (of some year). I'm presuming the exact day stamping was dropped at some point. And of course if an "M" or later date code is found for the month, that whole idea goes out the window.

For the year code, note that the "R" of the S-19 and the "T" of the BC-34 are 2 letters (years?) apart. The BC-34 wasn't introduced until 1922, so mathematically the "R" code of the S-19 can be no earlier than 1920. (1920 was Edison's biggest production year, so statistically at least, this is a probability.) I can't quite make out the serial number on the BC-34's packing slip, but it looks like 5393. If the serial number is that low (and keep in mind the BC-34 was a very strong-selling machine), we might be accurate with 1922 as the year for the "T" code. That would make the BC-34 December 1922. Of course, we may be one, two, or even three years too low.

Was the S-19 in question equipped with the earlier or later record storage door?

We need more packing slips/serial numbers/early-late characteristics to know for sure.

George P.

[Valecnik]

Well Here's K-5-0 if that helps...

[CDBPDX]

I can't quite make out the serial number on the BC-34's packing slip, but it looks like 5393. If the serial number is that low (and keep in mind the BC-34 was a very strong-selling machine), we might be accurate with 1922 as the year for the "T" code. That would make the BC-34 December 1922.

Was the S-19 in question equipped with the earlier or later record storage door?

We need more packing slips/serial numbers/early-late characteristics to know for sure.

George P.

A close look at the BC-34 packing slip shows the serial number to be 50393.

Also, a photo of the S-19 record storage door is attached. This is the machine for the packing slip.

Cliff

[alang]

A close look at the BC-34 packing slip shows the serial number to be 50393.

Cliff

Does that correspond to the serial number of the machine it was found in? If not, what else would it refer to?

Thanks
Andreas

[phonogfp]

Based on the later record storage door on that S-19, and the serial number of the BC-34, it looks like we're a couple of years too low...

HOLY COW!

I just checked my copy of Frow's Edison Disc Phonographs, and on page 184 is the production schedule for the BC-34 through January 1925! From this, it's clear that BC-34 No.50393 was packed in December 1924! Extrapolating from this, we theoretically have the following year code key:

1919: "O"
1920: "P"
1921: "Q"
1922: "R"
1923: "S"
1924: "T"
1925: "U"
1926: "V"
1927: "W"
1928: "X"
1929: "Y"

If this is correct, Bruce's C-19 was packed on November 5, 1919; the S-19 in the original thread was packed on August 30, 1922; and as suggested above, BC-34 was packed in December 1924 (the number of the day having either been discontinued by then, or overlooked in this instance).

Of course, all this is based upon a tiny sample of three (plus the BC-34 production figures which is a REAL break). Does anyone have a packing slip with a month code greater than "M" or a year code that (according to our provisional list above) does not correlate to known production years? If we can't pick a hole in this provisional key, we might be onto something.

George P.

[Valecnik]

Wow it would be great to see some more packing slips. Four or five should certainly confirm one way or the other...

[CDBPDX]

Based on the later record storage door on that S-19, and the serial number of the BC-34, it looks like we're a couple of years too low...

HOLY COW!

I just checked my copy of Frow's Edison Disc Phonographs, and on page 184 is the production schedule for the BC-34 through January 1925! From this, it's clear that BC-34 No.50393 was packed in December 1924! Extrapolating from this, we theoretically have the following year code key:

1919: "O"
1920: "P"
1921: "Q"
1922: "R"
1923: "S"
1924: "T"
1925: "U"
1926: "V"
1927: "W"
1928: "X"
1929: "Y"

If this is correct, Bruce's C-19 was packed on November 5, 1919; the S-19 in the original thread was packed on August 30, 1922; and as suggested above, BC-34 was packed in December 1924 (the number of the day having either been discontinued by then, or overlooked in this instance).

Of course, all this is based upon a tiny sample of three (plus the BC-34 production figures which is a REAL break). Does anyone have a packing slip with a month code greater than "M" or a year code that (according to our provisional list above) does not correlate to known production years? If we can't pick a hole in this provisional key, we might be onto something.

George P.

That was excellent deduction given the scant information available. Are there any packing slips around with regular dates? How late were those used?

CDB