The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Valecnik wrote: In the case of my A-300 you can see the whole side was cut down about ¾ of an inch and replaced. You might look for that sort of repair too.

That's really interesting!

I was wondering if some of the B250 cabinets might have been taller than the A250s? It seems that some of the same type of drawers that were used in the C250 might have been used in the B250. At least a couple of images I found today would suggest.

I can't be sure though, without being able to measure the drawers.

Do you know if this might have been the case?

Fran

fran604g wrote:

Valecnik wrote: In the case of my A-300 you can see the whole side was cut down about ¾ of an inch and replaced. You might look for that sort of repair too.

That's really interesting!

I was wondering if some of the B250 cabinets might have been taller than the A250s? It seems that some of the same type of drawers that were used in the C250 might have been used in the B250. At least a couple of images I found today would suggest.

I can't be sure though, without being able to measure the drawers.

Do you know if this might have been the case?

Fran

I don't know Fran. My A-300 is about 2 inches shorter than most other 250s, (all others I know of). I've never compared an A-250 to a B-250 but my guess would be the cabinets are the same dimentions.

Valecnik wrote: In the case of my A-300 you can see the whole side was cut down about ¾ of an inch and replaced. You might look for that sort of repair too.

Very intersting. Maybe I better pay attention to "height to the top of the turntable compartment at lid lock" measurements on the A and B 250s as you do.

Fran

A friend of mine up in Minneapolis has an early A-250 that still has the Amberola decal under the lid. They covered it will dark colored varnish but in bright light, you can still see it there. I've never looked it over closely to see what else was done to it. As careful as Edison was with money, it shouldn't be any surprise that they would do things to get the cabinets out the door. Kind of interesting really what all they did. Brunswick sure did some odd stuff to use up cabinets as well.

EarlH it would be great to see a photo of that. I'm really thinking the more I look at mine, and hearing your story, that it is the emblem. Can anyone tell me the dimensions of the decal?

I'll ask Randy the next time I talk to him. They did cut the part that hangs down off the lid and fill the molding where that would have fit into also as I recall. It's been a few years since I looked at that machine.

DGPros wrote: Can anyone tell me the dimensions of the decal?

Four and one-half inches horizontally by two and three-quarters inches vertically. These measurements are for the colored areas. The clear decal film (if visible and/or covered with stain) would extend slightly beyond these measurements.

George P.

DGPros wrote:Thanks Fran,
I had hoped this thread would produce information such as yours, and what others have stated before you. I had done some inspections on the A-250, but wanted to read, and learn opinions from the more informed on the forum. Thanks again.

I noticed today -- after combing through bunches of images this morning and afternoon for any hint to help to solve your mystery -- that the "lip" around the inside top perimeter of your turntable compartment does not occur on all A 250s.

In fact, it seems to have disappeared entirely at some point on the A 250. I did not note any B 250s with this lip.

I've viewed about 3 dozen A 250s from photographs both here and on the web, and I was able to record the occurrence of this feature on 26 of the total sampled.

14 (of those 26) HAVE this "lip" present.

This is how it shakes out for them in my recorded data:

9 out of the 19 Mahogany cabinets I've recorded HAVE the "lip".

5 out of the 14 Oak cabinets I've recorded HAVE the "lip".

The serial numbers of the units I found with this "lip" are all over the place; some earlier, some later.

It makes me wonder whether this "lip" was a feature of the Amberola type cabinets only, and perhaps the cabinets designed and manufactured specifically for the A 250 dropped this "lip"?

Just a thought, if it turns out that I'm right, this would be a pretty infallible way to determine which type of cabinet an A 250 was housed in, regardless of the Amberola relief cut.

Of course, if I'm wrong...well...back to the old drawing board.

Best,
Fran

Well Fran I must say it's a good theory. If anyone has an Amberola machine feel free to chime in on lip or no lip.

The "lip or no lip" characteristic is almost certainly a function of which cabinet manufacturer(s) were involved. I would be very interested in a comparison of Cabinet Factory numbers among these cabinets. Of course, with eBay and/or Craigslist machines, this will be difficult (if not impossible in some cases).

It should also be pointed out that these 1A/1B Amberola/A/B 250 Disc cabinets are POOLEY-style cabinets. The earlier Weber-style cabinets had no lip (as seen in the photo on page 1 of this thread). I'm aware of at least two manufacturers of Pooley-style cabinets: The Pooley Furniture Company and Brunswick. I expect there were others, but I cannot confirm that. Finding three or more different Cabinet Factory numbers on the stickers in Pooley-style cabinets would be proof that there were more than two suppliers of those Pooley-style cabinets.

This is good stuff.

George P.