Rexonola

[adrianf]

I hope I havent put this post in the wrong place.
I was hoping that someone here might be able to help identifying the model of this Rexonola gramophone.

Rexonola.JPG (99.07 KiB) Viewed 2461 times

Rexonola 2.JPG (99.78 KiB) Viewed 2461 times

I have tried looking on the internet and joined a Rexonola forum but I am the only person to post anything on the forum in a number of years.

Also the reproducer seems to have lost the diaphragm as the "needle post" internal in the reproducer is not attached to anything. It still makes sound but very low. Can someone identify the reproducer as there is nothing stamped or printed on it.

reproducer 1.jpg (105.45 KiB) Viewed 2461 times

reproducer 2.jpg (88.45 KiB) Viewed 2461 times

Thanks in advance
Adrian

[JohnM]

You probably should have posted this on the 'Machines' section, but I don't give a darn, myself.

When the fundamental Victor patents expired 1916-1918, hundreds of different brands of lateral-groove disc phonographs entered the market. Some were well-capitalized companies such as Brunswick, Sonora, Cheney, Aeolian-Vocalion, Starr and Kimball, to name a few. Some were side lines for companies that manufactured other things such as Brunswick (who made bowling alleys, pool tables, and bars); Meteor (who made ambulances); and Starr (who made pianos). Some were quite unique in design, like Modernola (an upright in a cylindrical cabinet with a lamp on top); or the Shell-O-Phone (which played through a conch shell mounted in the back of the horn chamber). However, probably 90% of the brands marketed between 1916-1925 were rather plain, inexpensive cabinets with generic motors and sonic hardware. The sonic hardware was almost always made of inexpensive die-cast pot-metal. Some brands existed just as decals or plates applied to stock generic machines. If someone names Smith owned a furniture store in a county seat in Iowa, he could order 'Smithiphones', while Jones, who owned a furniture store in the next county could order the same machine badged as a 'Jonesophone'. Some companies, such as the company that produced Rexonola, probably never developed much of a product line because they were a generic bargain brand intended to undercut the price of more expensive Victor (and other top-tier manufacturers). There isn't really a lot to know about them unless you can somehow find out who the principals of the company were, etc. Perhaps they manufactured their own cabinets, perhaps they didn't. At any rate, most of these generic brands weren't breaking any new ground or contributing much to the advancement of the phonographic art.

The phonograph market became flooded with these generic brands resulting in a serious sales slump for Victor in 1924. In 1925, Victor and Columbia licensed Western Electric's new electrical recording technology. Practically overnight, acoustical recording and phonographs intended to play them became obsolete. Most of the generic brands went extinct because they were not capitalized to license WE's new recording technology. It was 'The Great Extinction' of hundreds of brands. I'm sure that was the end of Rexanola as well as a lot of other '-olas'.

[JohnM]

You probably should have posted this on the 'Machines' section, but I don't give a darn, myself.

When the fundamental Victor patents expired 1916-1918, hundreds of different brands of lateral-groove disc phonographs entered the market. Some were well-capitalized companies such as Brunswick, Sonora, Cheney, Aeolian-Vocalion, Starr and Kimball, to name a few. Some were side lines for companies that manufactured other things such as Brunswick (who made bowling alleys, pool tables, and bars); Meteor (who made ambulances); and Starr (who made pianos). Some were quite unique in design, like Modernola (an upright in a cylindrical cabinet with a lamp on top); or the Shell-O-Phone (which played through a conch shell mounted in the back of the horn chamber). However, probably 90% of the brands marketed between 1916-1925 were rather plain, inexpensive cabinets with generic motors and sonic hardware. The sonic hardware was almost always made of inexpensive die-cast pot-metal. Some brands existed just as decals or plates applied to stock generic machines. If someone named Smith owned a furniture store in a county seat in Iowa, he could order 'Smithiphones', while Jones, who owned a furniture store in the next county could order the same machine badged as a 'Jonesophone'. Some companies, such as the company that produced Rexonola, probably never developed much of a product line because they were a generic bargain brand intended to undercut the price of more expensive Victor (and other top-tier manufacturers). There isn't really a lot to know about them unless you can somehow find out who the principals of the company were, etc. Perhaps they manufactured their own cabinets, perhaps they didn't. At any rate, most of these generic brands weren't breaking any new ground or contributing much to the advancement of the phonographic art.

The phonograph market became flooded with these generic brands resulting in a serious sales slump for Victor and other more expensive brands in 1924. In 1925, Victor and Columbia licensed Western Electric's new electrical recording technology. Practically overnight, acoustical recording and phonographs intended to play them became obsolete. Most of the generic brands went extinct because they were not capitalized to license WE's new recording technology. It was 'The Great Extinction' of hundreds of brands. I'm sure that was the end of Rexanola as well as a lot of other '-olas'.

[gramophoneshane]

Sorry John, but Victor & other US patents had very little to do machines manufactured outside of America, and the company who made Rexonolas actually survived until 1936. They introduced electric radiograms to their range in 1930 (I have a rare 1931 model), and they continued to manufacture spring driven machines until the end. I also have a spring driven portable that reproduces electrically through a radio, introduced in 1933.

Adrian,
What you have is a Rexonola No.4 from around 1923. Your soundbox is not original to the machine, and should have a Rexonola "Concert" soundbox. I'm not sure what brand your current soundbox is, but it appears to have features in common with some of the cheaper "Goldring" soundboxes.

Rexonolas were made by Jackson & McDonald of Kent St, Sydney. They started in 1906 as an Edison phonograph franchise, and by 1907 were selling "Rexophone" open horn disc machines, manufactured for them by Thorens of Switzerland.
In 1912 they started making Rexonola internal horn machines using Thorens running gear, and continued to do so until the company closed.
They became the biggest gramophone manufacturer in the southern hemisphere, and occupied the much larger building next door to Thomas A Edison Limited, which was Edisons Australian offices, warehouse & showrooms, from where Edison phonographs were distrubuted around Australasia.

[Bruce]

This is one of the primary reasons I joined this forum. There is no end to the interesting information one can learn on a day to day basis.

thank you

[JohnM]

Didn't know it was a foreign machine. Indeed, should have been posted in the UK sub-board.

[adrianf]

Thanks for the info.
I thought it was a model 4 but wasnt 100%
I have 2 sound boxes for this machine 1 is a columbia and the 1 in the picture I posted doesnt have a brand or any other identification. I will have a look around and see if I can find the correct sound box for it.
My wife is currently trying to refurbish the cabinet and I have just cleaned the mechanism to get rid of the old hard grease that was jamming the mechanism.
I am assuming the clock work mechanism is a Thorens. It has a cross with an anchor stamped on one of the plates.

Adrian