The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I'm going to be sick all night

It's only a ghost of its former self and just in time for Halloween.

But! It still has the KEY!!!

Err It looks like somebody tried to make it "Shabby Chic". I don't know about others here but I hate the "look". I see so many beautiful antique pieces ruined all the time by somebody who claims they are making them shabby chic by sloppily painting them and them beating them with chains.

This was advertised as "shabby chic" on classifieds a while back. I see it as sheer destruction

phononut wrote:Err It looks like somebody tried to make it "Shabby Chic". I don't know about others here but I hate the "look". I see so many beautiful antique pieces ruined all the time by somebody who claims they are making them shabby chic by sloppily painting them and them beating them with chains.

Remember the "antiquing" craze of the '60's and early '70's, when it was "fashionable" to take a piece of furniture, that perhaps had finish issues, and "distress" the surfaces with anything ranging from hammers, to wire-brushes, to chains, to scorching with propane torches, then painting the article with a base coat, then "dry-brushing" a "grain coat" or other "character"...

Glad that craze went the way of polyester bell-bottomed trousers and Kaftans, and Leisure suits...

Why would someone do that to an OAK Phonograph. It also looks like the bottom of the legs are cut off.

edisonphonoworks wrote:Why would someone do that to an OAK Phonograph. It also looks like the bottom of the legs are cut off.

That IS unfortunate... all that open grain for the paint to get into...

Hopefully there was enough shellac / wax / varnish left from the Edison factory to seal the original wood, to prevent the white paint from adhereing directly to the wood itself... if this is the case, then stripping and refinishing is a realistic possibility.

I can't tell whether the legs were amputated. Presently there is an Orthophonic 8-12 cabinet on e-bay that was gutted to house a later hi-fi, and the cabriole legs had a couple of inches taken off, losing the "ankle" and most of the "shin".


Philistines !

Years ago I bought a so called "shabby chic" Edison London upright that was "antiqued" green & black back in the 1970's. It took me weeks using Formbys paint stripper to get all that gunk off. Then the veneer repairs and matching the finish to the Edison brown that the factory put on. It also had a metal mesh grille so I had "Gramps" make me a perfect replacement. Lucky for me the inside of the cabinet was not painted excpet for some minor paint runs here and there. I also rplaced the bright pruple turn-table felt and removed the black and gold paint from the tone arm and reproducer. (which I had rebuilt) I still have that London DD, although all that work for such a very common plain-jane machine makes me think twice about doing that ever again. BUT we should save these machines, whatever it takes I feel. Maybe it is not worth it to some but that's just how I feel.......