The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

A fellow collector has come upon this Brunswick and wants me to find out more about it. I know Edison made a similar portable for the army, is this the same deal from Brunswick?

Cliff

I've never seen anything like it. The "Panatrope" designation would suggest it was made in the twenties about five years after The Great War. It was certainly made to a be portable but that's a lot to ask from the little leather strap on top. All the name brand portables put out tons of sound and would be much more portable. I wonder why someone had a trunk made to exactly fit that Brunswick or was it a factory option. It looks like a typical Brunswick wooden table model captured in a trunk. Does anyone have a Brunswick catalog showing such a feature? Thanks for sharing your puzzle. Jerry Blais

The grill looks very much like the grill on the Panatrope Model 12-8. This was one of Brunswick's smallest consoles. Perhaps someone stuffed the mechanism of this model into a trunk.

I grabbed a screen shot of this model from Joe Wakeman's book on Brunswick.

It looks similar to the HMV "Transportable" models made for the Indian market. Under their reciprocal agreement with HMV, Victor would not have targeted this part of the world but Brunswick would have been free to do so.

Silvertone wrote:The grill looks very much like the grill on the Panatrope Model 12-8. This was one of Brunswick's smallest consoles. Perhaps someone stuffed the mechanism of this model into a trunk.

I grabbed a screen shot of this model from Joe Wakeman's book on Brunswick.

The grille is similar, but not the same.

Also considering the fact that the outer case fits so exactly, and has a flip-down front, I would surmise that the whole arrangement is original (at least that is my humble opinion)…

Bill

Looking at these photos, I don't see any clip to hold the tonearm in position while the trunk is being moved around. The loop inside the fold-down front panel looks like it might be for stowing the crank, but it should have two loops to keep it secure. Some things about this phono in a trunk are well done, but it looks like a work in progress or a prototype.

I also agree with Jerry about the handle. Two per side would be much better than just one on the top.

It looks very much as though this was originally an upright machine that's been cut down, or a table model that has been surrounded by panels from a travelling trunk. This would explain why the winding crank is so near the outer case that there is no room for an escutcheon. Also, if this was an original, wouldn't the lid be square, to fit the trunk casing? The apparent absence of a securing clip for the arm also suggests this was not designed to be portable.

Barry

I think this is not a factory job but something custom made in the period.