The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Great photos, thanks for sharing!

I enjoyed going. Lots of fun, great people and a beautiful day. Thanks for the photos!
Lee

A great time was had by all. .machines were available from $40.00 & up. ( two V-II Humpbacks at 600 ea) lots of record and mechanical music related items

If you missed this show, You MUST come out next show

I think the deal of the show was a columbia be (complete but the case was busted up pretty good) with rear mount and nickel horn AND 57 columbia indestructible 2 min cylinders all for $325. My buddy snapped that up pretty quick.

I got Cab Calloway's "Take the A Train," and some other fun 78s--as well as some nice Blue Amberol titles, and about eight or nine good Diamond Discs.
They weren't as much of A Deal as the Columbia BE project, but they were nice. I like having interesting music to play, almost as much as I like displaying the phonographs themselves.

I had a great time seeing a bunch of other collectors & introducing my good friend Kelly to the wide and slightly crazy world of records, talking-machines, and the people who build & collect them. (If any of you had guessed the young lady following me around, or who I was following around, MIGHT have actually been my girlfriend--you guessed correctly. I don't think we were quite as good at concealing that as we thought.) It was her first experience in the phonograph hobby & she seemed to handle it quite well, but I still think the best way to get started would be in a quiet living room with a nicely restored Victrola and some good discs.

It's a bit overwhelming to start off in the hobby at the phonograph convention--it's a lot easier to just start with one antique phonograph, or a little stack of 78s; it's basically a way to induce sensory overload to jump off two feet first into a convention floor crowded with machines and with crates of records. She had to go sit down. Then I had to go sit down--even though this is the best part of the year, I still get a little overwhelmed in the adrenaline rush of it. But it was a darned good time & she helped me pick out some really great foreign/ethnic discs, a disc of Negro spirituals by the Utica Institute Jubilee Singers, a Bert Williams record I'd never seen before, some nice classical Diamond Discs for the A-200, some Blue Amberols I've wanted for awhile--it was pretty good. And we got to go hang out with Martin (Mormon S), who brought a Best-Phone metal-cased machine in nice condition and, for showing off, some very beautiful French & German cylinder machines that he could tell you more about than we could. I would say Martin will build a fine collection but he already has a fine collection; he's just adding to it. Martin is a very quick thinker.

What I'd like to have done would be to sell the slightly customized Standard A that I brought in, and end up picking up another project phonograph. I didn't know I "needed" a Victrola 1-70 but after seeing one at the show, I think I am going to be keeping an eye out for one of those (or updating my Victrola XIV with a newer reproducer; not sure which.) I did see some very nice cylinder phonographs and my favorite small machines, the rear-mount Victor E and some Victor I's. Met some more collectors -- It never ceases to amaze me just how knowledgeable everyone is about these, especially when it comes to discographies. I can't keep them all straight.

Whoever wanted a humpback II could have had his pick of nice ones. Same with records. I know some folks were disappointed they didn't sell enough records, but the extra records were sure festive.

Anyway Sunday was nice. There are a few great days in the phonograph society--

The day of the phonograph show,
The day after the show, listening to any new acquisitions, or restoring a project,
And the other 363 days in the year where you're looking forward to the next show or trying to keep up with all the friends you met at the last one.

It's usually fun, and it gets better every year. See you all in 2023, I hope-

--Charles

anchorman wrote: Wed Oct 12, 2022 2:44 pm Are there ever any phonograph shows/meets like this closer to Atlanta, GA/montgomery/birmingham AL? Or a list of where and when the major shows happen?

There are currently 4 "major" phonograph shows in the US:

Spring & Fall Mechanical Music Extravaganza in Wayne, New Jersey organized by Michael Devecka. See http://antique-sound.com/

June Midwest Expo show near Chicago organized by the Antique Phonograph Society (APS).

August APS show in Buena Park, California.

AZ* wrote: Mon Oct 17, 2022 9:46 pm

anchorman wrote: Wed Oct 12, 2022 2:44 pm Are there ever any phonograph shows/meets like this closer to Atlanta, GA/montgomery/birmingham AL? Or a list of where and when the major shows happen?

There are currently 4 "major" phonograph shows in the US:

Spring & Fall Mechanical Music Extravaganza in Wayne, New Jersey organized by Michael Devecka. See http://antique-sound.com/

June Midwest Expo show near Chicago organized by the Antique Phonograph Society (APS).

August APS show in Buena Park, California.

How many small shows are there, would be a good question; there's a lot of fine machines and a lot of collectors who'd probably be glad to swap them around a little bit.