The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

The discussion in another thread lead me to this question...


Are there any identifying features of the Edison "Home" model C machine that distinguish it from the "Home" model D ?

I have one or the other, not sure how to tell which is which... Frow not entirely helpful here...


Carriage arm takes the C and H small reproducers, machine has no end-gate, has 2 and 4 minute gearing, but no shift lever: just the sliding collar next to the pulley. Striping is gold, with a secondary blue-green strip, and "loopy" corner decorations.

Thanks...

Hi Frank.
It sounds like you have a model D from your description. You can verify it with the info on your patent plate. Early C and D machines will have the model type expressed as a suffix to the serial number. Others will have the model type expressed in a separate window in the plate - C machines usually at the top of the plate and D machines usually at the bottom (with "Combination Type" near the top of the plate). Hope this helps.
- Martin

Also, all Model C machines started out as 2-minute-only machines, and all Model D machines have factory installed 2-and-4-minute gearing.

Thanks for the replies, I will take a closer look for these details...

The C and the D had different cases too. The C had a solid base board and no wood molding except for around the base of the lid. The Model D did not have a solid baseboard but had a wide molding around the base of the machine and a thin wood bottom.

Andersun wrote:The C and the D had different cases too. The C had a solid base board and no wood molding except for around the base of the lid. The Model D did not have a solid baseboard but had a wide molding around the base of the machine and a thin wood bottom.

So, if I'm reading this right, the model C Home has the same cabinet as the B-Home ?


Martinola - there's no mention of "Combination type" anywhere on the serial / patents plate.


Will take another look at it tonight....

Yes, the C case and the later B case (Edison script on front of case) were identical . The motors were the same too. The Model C was two minute only but you could buy a combination attachment for it just like the Model B.

Just a minor clarification: later Model C production (at least for the Standard) used D-type cabinets with wide base mouldings. I've never seen a Model C Home with the later cabinet, but...

George P.

Okay... we have a verdict: it is a Model D Home.


Determining factor was the base detail of the cabinet: it is the later design, where the bottom "moulding" is integral to the cabinet sides, as opposed to the earlier "box on a plinth" cabinet.

Serial # is 369454 D. I believe the latest patent date on the plate is from 1908.

Thanks everyone who weighed-in on this...

There's not much overlap on the serial numbers I've seen on Homes. The earliest Home D I've recorded is number 339682 and the last Home B is 342483 (both have Late style cases). I've only seen one Model C Home (#338709) and it's in a Tall style (Model B type) case. I've only recorded 552 examples so far, so variations are always a possibility.

The patent plates with the model type expressed as a suffix to the serial number are very commonly found among the Home Ds. Initially the Home D was issued with a patent plate that said "Combination Type" at the top and had a window at the bottom for the model type. After the concurrently produced Model B ceased production, Edison still had a big backlog of the earlier plates with no place for a model type (hence the model type coming at the end of the serial number), and it obviously took some time to use them all up. The last patent date on all of these were May 22, 1906.

I'm glad that you've been able to nail it down, Frank. They're nice machines. If you ever want to post some photos of it, I for one, would love to see them.

Regards,
Martin