EMG gramophone

[Curt A]

That is a great picnic basket... I think I'm going to give up phonographs and join the picnic basket forum.
Are these common in the UK or is that a special one ? I definitely need one...

[poodling around]

That is a great picnic basket... I think I'm going to give up phonographs and join the picnic basket forum.
Are these common in the UK or is that a special one ? I definitely need one...


Screenshot 2023-08-28 at 5.36.42 PM.png

Ha ha !!!

Thanks very much Curt. I don't really know how common these are. Ebay sells various vintage picnic sets 'from time to time' I think. The green cups etc are made from 'Bandalasta' apparently. The make of mine is 'Coracle'. The case is a lovely shade of light green by the way - which just doesn't photograph well. It was sold to me as an 'art-deco' 1920's picnic basket - whether it dates back that far I can't really be sure. Maybe, maybe not. It is old though.

Anyway, as steve mentioned earlier in this thread, a fellow member on here called 'chunny' has a similar looking one except his has a gramophone in the picnic basket as well. If you look at the following thread link you will see all sorts of interesting information / links etc.

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=47495&hilit=picnic

[epigramophone]

Picnic baskets are fairly common in the UK, and are popular items to display with classic cars. I have several.
Many offered for sale are incomplete. The Thermos flasks are usually the first items to go missing.

[Steve]

That is a great picnic basket... I think I'm going to give up phonographs and join the picnic basket forum.
Are these common in the UK or is that a special one ? I definitely need one...


Screenshot 2023-08-28 at 5.36.42 PM.png

Ha ha !!!

Thanks very much Curt. I don't really know how common these are. Ebay sells various vintage picnic sets 'from time to time' I think. The green cups etc are made from 'Bandalasta' apparently. The make of mine is 'Coracle'. The case is a lovely shade of light green by the way - which just doesn't photograph well. It was sold to me as an 'art-deco' 1920's picnic basket - whether it dates back that far I can't really be sure. Maybe, maybe not. It is old though.

Anyway, as steve mentioned earlier in this thread, a fellow member on here called 'chunny' has a similar looking one except his has a gramophone in the picnic basket as well. If you look at the following thread link you will see all sorts of interesting information / links etc.

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=47495&hilit=picnic

Re-reading that thread I remembered I was bidding on that Decca derived gramophone / picnic hamper combo! But, at the same time, re-reading Roger's comments about driving around the UK brought home the epic journey time I experienced collecting the EMG which is the subject of this thread. Quite frankly, getting anywhere in the UK these days is a nightmare with the volume of traffic on the roads, roadworks and speed restrictions. For me personally, it just reinforces why I've bought almost everything online since 2004 at least. If I have to drive somewhere to collect something, let alone to simply view it before potentially buying it, I can easily lose half a day to a day in time and spend £50-100 in fuel in the process. Is it worth it? For a valuable item like an early horn model or an EMG or large re-entrant, yes, of course, but for most other gramophones, probably not.

[poodling around]

That is a great picnic basket... I think I'm going to give up phonographs and join the picnic basket forum.
Are these common in the UK or is that a special one ? I definitely need one...


Screenshot 2023-08-28 at 5.36.42 PM.png

Ha ha !!!

Thanks very much Curt. I don't really know how common these are. Ebay sells various vintage picnic sets 'from time to time' I think. The green cups etc are made from 'Bandalasta' apparently. The make of mine is 'Coracle'. The case is a lovely shade of light green by the way - which just doesn't photograph well. It was sold to me as an 'art-deco' 1920's picnic basket - whether it dates back that far I can't really be sure. Maybe, maybe not. It is old though.

Anyway, as steve mentioned earlier in this thread, a fellow member on here called 'chunny' has a similar looking one except his has a gramophone in the picnic basket as well. If you look at the following thread link you will see all sorts of interesting information / links etc.

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=47495&hilit=picnic

Re-reading that thread I remembered I was bidding on that Decca derived gramophone / picnic hamper combo! But, at the same time, re-reading Roger's comments about driving around the UK brought home the epic journey time I experienced collecting the EMG which is the subject of this thread. Quite frankly, getting anywhere in the UK these days is a nightmare with the volume of traffic on the roads, roadworks and speed restrictions. For me personally, it just reinforces why I've bought almost everything online since 2004 at least. If I have to drive somewhere to collect something, let alone to simply view it before potentially buying it, I can easily lose half a day to a day in time and spend £50-100 in fuel in the process. Is it worth it? For a valuable item like an early horn model or an EMG or large re-entrant, yes, of course, but for most other gramophones, probably not.

I agree with you entirely.

I fear going to collect an item and ending up with 3 points (or more) and a fine etc. Maybe there would be some kind of congestion charge I don't know about and / or the car would be crushed these days ....... this would spoil the journey and the excitement of obtaining a wonderful item for me.

[Steve]

Ha ha !!!

Thanks very much Curt. I don't really know how common these are. Ebay sells various vintage picnic sets 'from time to time' I think. The green cups etc are made from 'Bandalasta' apparently. The make of mine is 'Coracle'. The case is a lovely shade of light green by the way - which just doesn't photograph well. It was sold to me as an 'art-deco' 1920's picnic basket - whether it dates back that far I can't really be sure. Maybe, maybe not. It is old though.

Anyway, as steve mentioned earlier in this thread, a fellow member on here called 'chunny' has a similar looking one except his has a gramophone in the picnic basket as well. If you look at the following thread link you will see all sorts of interesting information / links etc.

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=47495&hilit=picnic

Re-reading that thread I remembered I was bidding on that Decca derived gramophone / picnic hamper combo! But, at the same time, re-reading Roger's comments about driving around the UK brought home the epic journey time I experienced collecting the EMG which is the subject of this thread. Quite frankly, getting anywhere in the UK these days is a nightmare with the volume of traffic on the roads, roadworks and speed restrictions. For me personally, it just reinforces why I've bought almost everything online since 2004 at least. If I have to drive somewhere to collect something, let alone to simply view it before potentially buying it, I can easily lose half a day to a day in time and spend £50-100 in fuel in the process. Is it worth it? For a valuable item like an early horn model or an EMG or large re-entrant, yes, of course, but for most other gramophones, probably not.

I agree with you entirely.

I fear going to collect an item and ending up with 3 points (or more) and a fine etc. Maybe there would be some kind of congestion charge I don't know about and / or the car would be crushed these days ....... this would spoil the journey and the excitement of obtaining a wonderful item for me.

That's an interesting point of view as a couple of years ago I bought a small machine off Ebay and I had to collect it from Leicester, ideally, so I checked my route and the distance involved before agreeing to proceed etc.

On the evening I had arranged to collect it, the heavens opened and we had torrential rain and thunder! I don't have SatNat in my car but I was relying on my memory. In the dark and in the rain I accidentally missed a turning and then unnecessarily added 15 miles to my journey - you know that point of no return moment when you know you've gone wrong but you reckon it's better to keep going and re-connect to the original route farther along instead of turning back - so I was already getting tired of the journey when I hit some roads on the outskirts of the town. The roads were flooded by then and just reflected the car head lights. Road markings weren't exactly well illuminated or clear under water!

I was trundling along watching that I didn't exceed 30mph but moved across into a middle lane (which felt wrong when going straight ahead to then bear left) when all other cars seemed to be doing the same. I assumed there was an obstruction. No, it was simply changing into a bus lane after being a vehicle lane for a while.

Two weeks after my soggy trip I received a fine for driving a short distance in a bus lane! There was no appeal. It leaves a sour taste so I can understand fully what you're saying. In Britain the authorities don't want us to drive cars anymore and they appear to be exhausting every avenue to tax us off the roads by all means fair and foul!

You have to be extremely vigilant when driving on any unfamiliar roads these days. The previous occupier of my house obviously falls foul of the law frequently judging by the number of penalty notices and impending fines that come through my door for "incidents" involving one or more of his vans!

[chunnybh]

In Britain the authorities don't want us to drive cars anymore

When I was a kid, I loved driving. Nowadays I hate it, especially in England. When I visit the UK, I usually rent a car at Heathrow. I remember a London where everyone used to have lovely green front gardens, no more gardens, just car parking spaces. Nowadays, every Tom, Dick, Harry, Jane, Jean and Samantha has a car or two and they are parked just about everywhere they possibly can. Ever tried to park a car in London? It's a nightmare. Last time I was there the speed limit in most areas in London was reduced from 30MPH to 20MPH and it's still gridlocked. It's faster to walk or you could catch a never moving bus and read Dostoevsky or better still have a picnic on a bus with a portable.
Road rage! , I'm so glad there are no guns in the UK. Is there a solution? Is ULEZ the answer? It's Maggie again, building the M25 instead of investing in public transport.
Back to the EMG. Last time I heard it was June 2022 when I visited Ian Maxted and spent a whole afternoon playing dozens of great jazz 78's on it. He lives about 25miles from me in London. It took nearly 2 hours to drive there and 30min to return in the evening.
Can't wait to see a video of it playing again. Steve, you must be so thrilled!

[Steve]

In Britain the authorities don't want us to drive cars anymore

When I was a kid, I loved driving. Nowadays I hate it, especially in England. When I visit the UK, I usually rent a car at Heathrow. I remember a London where everyone used to have lovely green front gardens, no more gardens, just car parking spaces. Nowadays, every Tom, Dick, Harry, Jane, Jean and Samantha has a car or two and they are parked just about everywhere they possibly can. Ever tried to park a car in London? It's a nightmare. Last time I was there the speed limit in most areas in London was reduced from 30MPH to 20MPH and it's still gridlocked. It's faster to walk or you could catch a never moving bus and read Dostoevsky or better still have a picnic on a bus with a portable.
Road rage! , I'm so glad there are no guns in the UK. Is there a solution? Is ULEZ the answer? It's Maggie again, building the M25 instead of investing in public transport.
Back to the EMG. Last time I heard it was June 2022 when I visited Ian Maxted and spent a whole afternoon playing dozens of great jazz 78's on it. He lives about 25miles from me in London. It took nearly 2 hours to drive there and 30min to return in the evening.
Can't wait to see a video of it playing again. Steve, you must be so thrilled!

Thank you, Chunny, and yes, I am thrilled with it and hope to upload a video of it playing soon. Ideally, it needs the tonearm to be secured first and I'm hoping to visit Graham very soon to get this sorted.

What you say about driving in England is completely true. As someone who experiences the relative luxury of driving almost exclusively on B roads and country lanes day to day, avoiding any major towns, cities or motorways, the experience of having to endure the latter on occasions is particularly eye-opening and frankly, I couldn't do it daily. I admire those who can but I'm not one of them!