The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

That clip art loosely depicts a Type N (or possibly a C or an A), and was used in Columbia catalogs well before the appearance of the AT.

Sears sold the Eagle as the "Gem" too. Retailers could and did call talking machine all sorts of mixed-up names. Don't let them confuse you - - stick with the names given the machines by the companies that made them and you'll be fine.



George P.

phonogfp wrote:That clip art loosely depicts a Type N (or possibly a C or an A), and was used in Columbia catalogs well before the appearance of the AT

Well that shows you how much I know about Columbia machines! You see sites on how to tell Edison and Victor models apart but not Columbia.

Well, there's a recent thread on this forum that shows a few:

http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... =2&t=37915

Columbia offered much more variety than did Edison. There's a book that covers virtually all the Columbia cylinder Graphophones called The Columbia Phonograph Companion, by Howard Hazelcorn. It's readily available on the Internet.

By the way, what's the site that describes and pictures Edison Phonographs?

George P.

phonogfp wrote:
By the way, what's the site that describes and pictures Edison Phonographs?

George P.

Ok, ok you got me. I spoke too soon. I guess I just haven’t done enough research on Columbias.

Looking at period ads for this machine on newspapers.com apparently these little machines came with recorders! I wonder has anyone here ever tried doing a recording with one of these machines?

The $5.00 Q did not come with a recorder, but the $10.00 QC did. And yes, probably every collector has tried at least a bit of recording with Edison and Columbia cylinder machines. Some folks on this forum have done many hundreds of recordings. You'll find numerous threads here on the topic. Try using the search function for "blanks" and "recorder."

Be warned though, recording was and is very much an art as well as a science. It's also messy!

I'm disappointed to learn that there's no web site for Edison as there is for Victor/Victrola (an outstanding web site). I'm always pleased to find a new resource. (Unfortunately, many online resources sacrifice accuracy in favor of other things, so proceed cautiously.)

George P.

Congratulations on your "new" machine... One of my first machines was a Q with the wooden base and cover and that made me start looking for an early one like yours... I now have two.

AmberolaAndy wrote:

phonogfp wrote:
By the way, what's the site that describes and pictures Edison Phonographs?

George P.

Ok, ok you got me. I spoke too soon. I guess I just haven’t done enough research on Columbias.

Youse guys forgetting Martinola's "Edison Spotter's Guide"?

AmberolaAndy wrote:Looking at period ads for this machine on newspapers.com apparently these little machines came with recorders! I wonder has anyone here ever tried doing a recording with one of these machines?

I have made recordings with my Q (no. 647122 – very similar to Andy's, but with a case). The recorder is not a Columbia item but was made by the German company EWC (Excelsior); however, it is a perfect fit.

In my experience the Q will only play one cylinder without being re-wound, but it does this with perfect reliability, even at very low speeds.

I have added some images of the reproducer, which I believe is the original (many Qs now carry a later pattern, known I think as the D type, with a larger diaphragm), and of the recorder.

Oliver Mundy.

gramophone-georg wrote: Youse guys forgetting Martinola's "Edison Spotter's Guide"?

The full title of Martin's outstanding article is Spotter's Guide to the Edison Standard Phonograph. In my opinion, this article far surpasses Frow in its detail, but it deals only with the Standard.

https://www.antiquephono.org/spotters-g ... honograph/

George P.