The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

gramophoneshane wrote:And I thought Ebay was the only place to see "Edison Victor Phonograph"

Now we can all say that we have seen it in print, and so it might actually be truth in advertising on eBay!

Fredrik wrote:Another interesting detail (if you look at the picture in full size) is that the machine seems to have a slot at the side, thus being a coin operated player, which hardly seems to be the natural thing to advertise towards ordinary people for usage at home.

Fredrik,

Thanks for mentioning that—I did not catch this detail when I viewed your image at full size the first time...my attention was drawn to the horn hole in the front and the monkeys. I had wondered if they were perhaps the answer to Nipper. (“Look for the Monkey!”?)

Definitely, you guys have some interesting print materials in your collections.

Certainly, it would be interesting to know if they beat Victor to the internal horn...

— MordEth

Fredrik wrote: Another interesting detail (if you look at the picture in full size) is that the machine seems to have a slot at the side, thus being a coin operated player, which hardly seems to be the natural thing to advertise towards ordinary people for usage at home.

Hymnophones were manufactured and marketed in three different sizes for home use, and one additional automatic version for restaurants, since 1904.

Would this be the first internal horn machine ever made?
I though Victor laid claim to that in 1906?

Yes and no . . . the horn on a Hymnophone is a fully realized spun-metal horn only it is turned down (rather than up) and passes completely through the front of the cabinet to reveal the horn bell on the outside of the front panel -- approaching the fully enclosed horn of the Victrola, but not quite there yet. It was still up to Victor to completely cabinetize a non-decorative horn and conceal it behind doors..
John M

JohnM wrote: It was still up to Victor to completely cabinetize a non-decorative horn and conceal it behind doors.

The First Victrola. – ... A man named John Bailey Browning had developed all of the basic concepts of the commercial Victrola (concealed horn, louvered speaker, directional doors, and tapered tone arm) as early as 1897, and by 1901 had been employed by the Victor Co. He ... soon left their employ. Once Victor began to produce a version of his design, he began to fight for his priority, and eventuall sold his claims to the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Co. who then received a favorable verdict in April, 1921. (The Antique Phonograph Monthly, Vol. IV, No. 4, New York, April 1976, pp. 2-4)