The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

It's amazing to see how the finish on a mahogany cabinet looked like back in the 20's when it was new. It is definitely a piano finish! Our alligatored versions are so plain looking by comparison. It's too bad it's missing all of the paperwork. Of course, one could buy the missing paperwork for display purposes. One problem, with buying this would be the storage of the crate. It would need to at least be stored in a garage away from water. I once owned an Edison crate is superb condition. It was a crate for an Edison Hepplewhite machine and it was in great condition. I ran out of room indoors, so I put it out on the patio. One night it rained on it and that destroyed the crate, especially the red ink on the crate.

Holy cow. Given the condition, I'd say $900 is an extremely fair price. There's excellent original, and then there's mint. This is mint.

Garret

marcapra wrote:It's amazing to see how the finish on a mahogany cabinet looked like back in the 20's when it was new. It is definitely a piano finish! Our alligatored versions are so plain looking by comparison.

The "Brown Mahogany" label on the crate also definitively answers the question of what this finish was actually called -- "Red" or "Brown" Mahogany were offered at this time period.

Best,
Fran

Storing the crate would be no issue for me, as it would be right next to the machine! If this were closer and I hadn't been naughty at the Stanton auction, I'd seriously consider making it mine...

HisMastersVoice wrote:Storing the crate would be no issue for me, as it would be right next to the machine! If this were closer and I hadn't been naughty at the Stanton auction, I'd seriously consider making it mine...

For me either. To make it more useful one could build some shelving inside the crate and use it for record storage.

marcapra wrote:It's amazing to see how the finish on a mahogany cabinet looked like back in the 20's when it was new. It is definitely a piano finish! Our alligatored versions are so plain looking by comparison. It's too bad it's missing all of the paperwork. Of course, one could buy the missing paperwork for display purposes. One problem, with buying this would be the storage of the crate. It would need to at least be stored in a garage away from water. I once owned an Edison crate is superb condition. It was a crate for an Edison Hepplewhite machine and it was in great condition. I ran out of room indoors, so I put it out on the patio. One night it rained on it and that destroyed the crate, especially the red ink on the crate.

I'll second Mark's comments about the condition and quality of the original finish !

The first mahogany piano finish that I encountered that wasn't alligatored all to hell is the one on my 1909 L-door Victrola. It is not pristine, and has even deteriorated somewhat in the 15 years it has sat in our front parlor, but it was my first clue as to how stunning these machines must have looked when they were brand-new !

I wish my mahogany C-19 looked as nice as this one.

But, like antique cars, when they are in this condition, are they almost "too nice to use" ?

I hope one of us ( or another responsible party ) winds-up with this package !

Can you imagine, an original diamond stylus with no wear, a motor that shines with no wear...wow.