The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I don't think anyone can top Curts XX. Great find. My best is the little Victor one.

Wow some really fantastic and interesting stuff here!

For me, the best for 2014 would have to be this Triumph Model D purchased from Gregg Cline.

Tpapp54321 wrote:Well this isn't much compared to any of the other machines but I consider my Edison L-19 for $200 my best find. When I bought it it also came with a 78 adapter and a couple 78's but those are with other machines.






I found it off of craigslist for $250 but once the women I bought it learned how far me and my parents drove and that I was only 13 she said take it for $200 it'll go to a good home
-Tom

Victrolaboy wrote:My best find of the year is my Edison Triumph. I found it at the local flea market and paid only $450 dollars for it in playing condition. (the belt is not on in the picture)
-Nick

Guys, both of you picked up very nice machines at very good prices. Very nice to see some young blood with a passion for the hobby and especially for the products of T.A.E.

Not to sound like a hung groove, but 2014 was a modest year for me as well, and my offering is not nearly as splashy as some others. However, it's a machine I searched for many years to find, so it was a thrill to finally bring one home. We're all familiar with the Busy Bee disc machines (known as the Busy Bee "Grand"). These interesting machines were built by Hawthorne & Sheble, and are relatively easy to find. As the front-mount disc machine configuration became increasingly obsolescent, in 1908 H&S introduced a rear-mount "Busy Bee" machine for the O'Neill-James Company to distribute, but for some reason the new machine was named "The Yankee Prince" - - perhaps to coincide with a then-popular George M. Cohan Broadway show of the same name which opened April 20, 1908. At this point H&S was manufacturing its "Star" line of disc talking machines, and the Yankee Prince incorporated the "Yielding Pressure Feed" of the more expensive Star machines. This "mechanical feed" was an unsuccessful attempt to work around Victor's patent on any machine wherein the needle was propelled by the record groove. In addition, many (this one included) of the H&S Yankee Prince machines sported two mainsprings; a most unusual (and unnecessary) feature in an inexpensive machine intended for the premium trade. By July 1909, Hawthorne & Sheble was no more, and Columbia took over supplying the O'Neill-James Company with Yankee Prince machines, which then became quite similar to the Standard Model A.

On the rare occasions when a Yankee Prince appears for sale, it's almost always the later 1909-1911 version supplied by Columbia. I wanted the rarer and more mechanically interesting 1908-1909 version manufactured by Hawthorne & Sheble. For a number of years I believed I could find one in good original condition for around $1000. I eventually learned I was living in a dream world. This past summer, a dealer who knew I wanted one of these contacted me. It was more than I wanted to pay, but it is in beautiful original condition, so I decided (as so many times in the past) that the money can be replaced, but another H&S Yankee Prince in this condition was unlikely to present itself to me.
The allegorical decal of the Yankee Prince may depict the triumph of American Percy Springer over the Earl of Waymouth in George M. Cohan's play, "The Yankee Prince." Or it may simply be a celebration of hard work and ingenuity.
The Busy Bee records had a short life remaining when the Yankee Prince machines were being offered. The original owner was in all probability disappointed when he could no longer obtain records for his Yankee Prince, and consequently removed the lug that prevented other brands of records from being played.

I suspect most collectors aren't as smitten as I am with the romance of Hawthorne & Sheble's last valiant attempts to manufacture talking machine products in the face of Victor's legal onslaught. Vive la differance!

George P.

Addition: I think the question of the decal can be cleared up by comparing the man's image on the right with this photo of George M. Cohan himself: Note especially the pattern of folds below the left shoulders...

I had someone, through word of mouth, offer me an Edison Standard that they obtained when cleaning out their grandparent's house. It turned out to be mahogany!

Gene

I never expected to own one of these things but this showed up on Craigslist in Minneapolis late last summer. It came with 4 other radios and had most of its original paper work. It was pretty dirty and had been home to mice but they were mostly interested in living under the motor and didn't eat the speaker cone or anything else up. The guy said the leg base was rickety and holy cow was that ready to fall apart. It's a testament to how careful he was with it that it didn't just flop over and really finish breaking things up. I took it all apart in the guys driveway when we loaded it so I don't really have any pictures of it as it looked. I had to re-glue the leg base, make some of the bun feet over again and refinish it. This is how it looked the day I got the finish sprayed on it. It will be awhile before the chassis is restored and it's singing again, but it will be done by spring. I don't think they ever played many records on it as the tone arm was tied to the brake with some really old cord and all the records that were with it were much older than the machine. They did keep a radio log with it though and there are scorch marks over some of the tubes in the cabinet so it did get some radio usage! He thought his aunt and uncle bought it new in 1927 when they got married. I think these came out in 1928 so he's in the ballpark. He had it for about 40 years after his aunt passed away. It's an early one and I guess they are darker than the later one's. Edison did stain these cabinets before they got lacquer over them and this is pretty much the color it was once it was stripped. The later one's may have had all the color in finish.

Love 'em all... any of these machines would be great finds in any year.

I already shared this as a Christmas decoration, but it is also my favorite find for the year.
Some of you might recall seeing in the news that the city of Buffalo had shut down because of a big snowstorm last month, and that included a week off from college for me. My area really didn't get any snow, so I went to a local antique shop, where I found this horn. I bought my Edison Standard last March with a plain brass horn. I had wanted to find a nicer, painted horn to use with the machine. I paid $150 for the horn, and am happy with it. I am amazed by the artistry that went into painting the snowy scene onto the horn.
I also wanted to thank George Paul for letting me know that there isn't much known about these particular horns.
A perfect find for a snow day!

Nathan

NateO wrote: I also wanted to thank George Paul for letting me know that there isn't much known about these particular horns.

That's my specialty: "Gee, I don't know..."

George P.

NateO wrote: I also wanted to thank George Paul for letting me know that there isn't much known about these particular horns. Nathan

Another way to say this is......"thanks for nothing".... . Sorry, I couldn't help myself... .