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Very nice pics Mike of some wonderful examples.
Of course the closed face Clark/Johnson sound box was promoted as the "Exhibition" during the late 1890's.

Mlund2020 wrote: The Berliner JS was very short lived, resulting in it’s extreme rarity today. I believe that it was the attempt of Berliner and Johnson to appease Frank Seaman’s ongoing request for a less expensive machine that he could market. It was apparently too little too late and soon after this machine was released, the courts put the Berliner Gramophone company out of business in the US.

Well, we already know by the advertisement I posted earlier in this thread that the JS had appeared by late 1898. The injunction against Berliner in the U.S. didn't happen until June 25, 1900. Based upon the small number of survivors, no known examples with National Gramophone Corporation decals, and the dearth of advertising for this model, I don't believe the JS was in production for over a year.

Mlund2020 wrote: I think that the G&T style 4 with metal motor housing was released in 1897 which would predate the Berliner JS.

The Gramophone Company wasn't established until May 1898, so that in itself would rule out the 1897 introduction of the Style No.4. The first machines marketed by the company were shipped over from the U.S., so that too would argue against the No.4 predating the JS. I've never done any research on when the No.4 was introduced in the UK/Europe, but in His Master's Gramophone, Brian Oakley and Christopher Proudfoot state that it was November 1900.

George P.

phonogfp wrote:

Mlund2020 wrote: I hope that you don’t mind that a lot of the information used in many of my display description tags (this one included) was borrowed form your books.

the Second Edition of the Compendium (2005) contains a corrected caption for the JS...one of over 100 corrections/additions.

George P.

I have that edition and just looked it up and all the correct info on the $15 JS and $18 Improved Gramophone is there. In fact I just noticed that I have 2 copies of this edition. I must have like it so much that I bought a spare. I was clearly looking at another reference or older edition when I was typing a description of the JS for my display. It is a great book as all your books are, they have been an invaluable resource for me.

phonogfp wrote:
The Gramophone Company wasn't established until May 1898, so that in itself would rule out the 1897 introduction of the Style No.4. The first machines marketed by the company were shipped over from the U.S., so that too would argue against the No.4 predating the JS. I've never done any research on when the No.4 was introduced in the UK/Europe, but in His Master's Gramophone, Brian Oakley and Christopher Proudfoot state that it was November 1900.

George P.

Thanks for the clarification. I knew that you would know the correct answer. Now I have 2 description tags to correct. Oh well, it is a work in progress.

Thanks again for your kind words about the books, Mike!

Sorry about causing you all that work, though...

George P.

phonogfp wrote:Well, I don't know if my insight into the meaning of "JS" is any better than yours, Mike. "Johnson Scheme," "Johnson Special," maybe "Johnson Sport!"
George P.

One last speculation on my part... Looking at the add, I see the word "Standard" appears capitalized three times when referring to the more expensive model:
Could "JS" have meant "Junior Standard" Gram-o-phone, a possible branding that was never pursued given the model's relatively short production life? ***

OrthoFan
***sorry, didn't mean to kill this post string.

JS Model at Donley

I believe that is the same one that was offered at Stanton’s this past November. This Berliner JS did not meet reserve at Stanton’s and was passed. It is a very rare and desirable machine but I believe that crank is not correct, the horn and elbow are not original and I think the post may have been replaced also. The reproducer is not the correct rare ‘JS’ reproducer but the more common ‘J’ reproducer found on the Trademark Berliner Improved Gramophones.

It certainly does create confusion when models are referred to by their selling price, but it was a common practice for a long time, by many companies (For example, the Edison Amberola 30).

Here is an advertisement from an 1896 Berliner catalog showing what is presumably the "old" model 15 ($15.00 machine). In the the 1898 ad that George posted, the JS is listed as the "New" model 15.