The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I bought the Polly from my friend yesterday.I love it! I took it to the antique center in my town and played it.A friend took a video of the Polly playing.edisonplayer

Does it have a good, original paper horn?

Yes,the paper horn is original.However,I have quite a time putting it together when I want to play Miss Polly.That's my nickname for her! edisonplayer

I have a Brunswick Parisian, which is the same machine but with a different decal (in fact there is a Polly decal beneath the Brunswick decal on mine). You are fortunate to have an original paper horn, since they are quite fragile and usually damaged. Mine came with no horn, so I decided to make exact reproduction horns for the Polly and the Brunswick... I was able to locate an original basketweave design Polly horn and fortunately scan the original before it was destroyed by a careless Staples employee during the copying/printing process...

The horns I made were exact duplicates of the originals, except for being made from laminated paper, which makes them much more flexible, thinner and better sounding. The laminated paper reproduces sound better than the thick paper originals, which in my opinion, dampens the sound. This is important because the "horns" are really not acoustic horns in the traditional sense, but rather large reproducer diaphragms, which amplify the sound.

When I want to play the Polly sometimes the paper horn wants to come apart.I use a paper clip to keep it together.Eventually I'll get one of those repro paper horns.edisonplayer PS:How much are they,Curt?