The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Was reading my MMD email yesterday and came across this suggestion from a member. I thought this was a great idea and wanted to pass it on here. He said whenever he visits a doctor's office, accountant's office, basically any place that has a waiting area and magazines, he takes along some of his old mechanical music journals and leaves them there. Has two benefits: just might spark interest in the machines and helps keep up with the clutter. It was also suggested that a note might be included with website information or maybe a youtube link. What do you all think?

I'm not giving away my journals!

George P.

Sounds like a good idea instead of throwing it away, but have you noticed that no one reads magazines or newspapers anymore. They are all talking on their cell phones or playing games on their cell phones.

I took a phonograph into work on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve days.
Phones were whipped out to capture it, sharing the curiosity within their spheres.

James.

PS - What's paper?
Here's an excellent example how the word gets around today...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9mAyiz3gmM
Timo Gramophone is one of our members.

Like several others on this forum, I am a classic car enthusiast.

Whenever I take part in an event I take a portable and a few jazz/dance records to play. The gramophone often attracts at least as much interest as the car, and last summer another car owner asked me to source a portable for him. He was delighted with the smart red machine I found, and even if he never buys another he has become part of our hobby.

If we want to attract newcomers to our hobby, there is no substitute for showing our collections to real people out there in the real world.

I also give occasional presentations to local groups, including the care home in which my 94 year old mother resides. Whilst there will not be any budding collectors in a care home, the medical profession welcomes anything which aids reminiscence among the elderly, and what could be better than voices from the past?

I've offered various times to loan some of my phonographs to a local historical society for display either in the main hall or in the pharmacy of their pioneer village. I've also offered to the local school here to bring in a few and do a lesson. So far no takers… In fact the school suggested I should contact a retirement home as there could be more interest there. That may well be the case and nothing wrong with that but as others have noted, not the best place to interest young people in the hobby…

I do think leaving periodicals places you visit is a good idea, if one can bear to part with them. In a few cases I've somehow ended up with duplicate copies of phono related publications and left them in the seat pocket of commercial airplanes.

Valecnik wrote:I've offered various times to loan some of my phonographs to a local historical society for display either in the main hall or in the pharmacy of their pioneer village. I've also offered to the local school here to bring in a few and do a lesson. So far no takers… In fact the school suggested I should contact a retirement home as there could be more interest there. That may well be the case and nothing wrong with that but as others have noted, not the best place to interest young people in the hobby…

God forbid the kids actually learn about something! We can't be having any of that!

I'd be careful about loaning out anything you cared about. I've heard some bad stories about loans that sustained heavy damage while in the "care" of their temporary custodians.

good point Zenith82. Anytime one of these is moved there's some risk. Loaning them out is yet another risk and having them on public display somewhere heightens the risk further. A tough balance to strike.

I like the idea of leaving journals at doctors offices, but I hold on to all mine and keep them for references. It would be a great thing to do with duplicates, though.

I am involved with the Musical Box Society International (whose members collect all kinds of mechanical music machines, including antique phonographs). One thing we have found that seems to work the best is to put on shows at the same time another popular event is going on. Last December, we put on a small exhibit at The Villages, in Florida, at the same time that a model railroad show was taking place. The instruments exhibited included antique phonographs, as well as music boxes of all kinds, monkey organs, etc. We had several hundred people wander through over the course of 4 days. There were many questions about the instruments I brought, including a Columbia AH, and the children loved hearing "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" on it.

http://mbsise.org/Inside%20Pages/2013_The_Villages.html

We put on these small shows from time to time. From November 13, 2010, through January 9, 2011, we put on a much bigger exhibit at the Orlando Science Center. More than 9,000 people attended in the course of those days. It included a number of phonographs as well as other instruments large and small.

http://mbsise.org/Inside%20Pages/Orland ... _2011.html

It can be a lot of work, but it is worth it. A major component of keeping the hobby alive is exposing it to the public. Most people now don't know our machines exist. Of course the interest of many will be fleeting at best when they are exposed to them, but some will be charmed by them, just as we were when we first caught the phonograph collecting bug.

Clay

How many times have you guys had visitors and they don't even notice your phonographs? But every once in a while you get that person that wants to know everything about them. It blows my mind that I have these 100 year old players and people don't ask questions.