Is this genuine?

[OrthoFan]

Hi Jim:

Many thanks!

Never would have guessed that it was sold by Sears.

It was for sale during one of the worst years of the Great Depression--I know that my grandfather earned about $10 a week in 1935--so probably not many sold, or are around today. Hopefully, it will go to a good home.

OF

[Edisone]

"Shipping weight, 44 pounds" ! No wonder it's $62, just from Penna to Buffalo. Come to think of it, I have the 109 in traditional suitcase form, and it weighs about that much when loaded with a dozen records.

hmm .. I just input 54 pounds (assuming 10 pounds' worth of box & padding) from them to me, via the same Fedex service ...$25.60. They are adding rather a lot for packing and "handling".

[Brad]

OF,

I don't know for sure, but I would be suspect:
-The case does not look acoustically sufficient for Brunswick to claim performance.
-The crank appears (to me) to stick a little to far out suggesting it is not the correct crank for the case.
-The underside of the fretwork does not match the finish of the remainder of the case
-I did not see a builders tag, which I believe all Brunswicks have.

Still, it is somewhat of an attractive, albeit simple, case.

Well Ortho_Fan , I came:I dug: I conquered! I found it, and indeed it's a real machine. The is taken from the Sears catalogue of 1933 and it was reproduced on the cover of the January 2007 In the Groove. The little guy probably sounded quite acceptable. The closed lid would add resonance to the bass and make it sound more impressive even though it was just resonance rather than response.

Jim

Nope, I don't believe it, it isn't true, it can't be. That's my story and I am stickin' to it!

[phonophan79]

I've only seen a couple of the Panatrope suitcase portables, and if I remember right John (Neophone) has or had one. (David, you might want to call John's attention to this post string.)

Who are these people you speak of?

Separately, indeed this is a nice looking and interesting tabletop!

[OrthoFan]

Nope, I don't believe it, it isn't true, it can't be. That's my story and I am stickin' to it!

...ahem...

I understand that the Canadians were so impressed with this model that they....

Brunswick Factory.JPG (74.29 KiB) Viewed 1218 times

...okay, I'll behave....

[Brad]

OF,

ROTFLMAO!!! I almost made reference to the Giant Credenza in my post! Thanks, that was good!

[estott]

OK- it makes sense. Back on the old board there was a thread that showed, or at least strongly suggested, that Sears was selling machines made up from obsolete Brunswick materials. It would make sense, both companies were located in the same city and Sears (selling to rural customers without electricity) was one of the few big sellers of spring wound cabinet machines in 30's America.

[gramophoneshane]

OK- it makes sens. Back on the old board there was a thread that showed, or at least strongly suggested, that Sears was selling machines made up from obsolete Brunswick materials. It would make sense, both companies were located in the same city and Sears (selling to rural customers without electricity) was one of the few big sellers of spring wound cabinet machines in 30's America.

I think I remember that thread. If I remember correctly, Larry posted some mid 30s Sears catalogue pictures showing Sears machines with Ultona arms?

[Edisone]

I've only seen a couple of the Panatrope suitcase portables, and if I remember right John (Neophone) has or had one. (David, you might want to call John's attention to this post string.)

I have one - it's the 109 introduced late 1929, and is a most excellent phono. Mine has a genuine clothesline handle & a chunk missing from the repro flange, so is held on by black Gorilla tape, but still produces fantastic sound !

The repro had warped over the years, so I opened it up & carefully flattened the backing plate on emery-cloth taped to glass. Once the two sides matched again, some real bass response returned.

[OrthoFan]

...Back on the old board there was a thread that showed, or at least strongly suggested, that Sears was selling machines made up from obsolete Brunswick materials...

It was also covered in this post string:

http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=97