The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

It has been 100 years plus two days since the big fire at the Edison plant in West Orange, N.J. (December 9, 1914). I thought of it a couple of weeks ago and meant to post something on the actual anniversary, but my wife's birthday on the 10th and all the Christmas decorating I'm doing must have distracted me...

The fire brought to a rather abrupt end the A-series of Edison Disc Phonographs (excepting the A-100 introduced in 1915 and the A-85 in 1917), as well as the original Amberola line. This was an historic event in Edison Phonograph history.

George P.

Here's a copy of an advertisement that was published 10 months after the fire. I have a copy of this framed and hanging above my A250 which was manufactured right before the fire.
Dave Jolley

That's a great ad, Dave. It's interesting to note that in small print in the lower left, the B-250 is being referred to as an Official Laboratory Model (OLM). Our friend Fran has been investigating whether or not the OLM medallions were ever affixed to the B-250, and he has found some evidence that at least a few were. This ad illustrates the official use of the term with the B-250 as well as the beloved Chippendale.

Thanks for sharing this, Dave!

George P.

phonogfp wrote:That's a great ad, Dave. It's interesting to note that in small print in the lower left, the B-250 is being referred to as an Official Laboratory Model (OLM). Our friend Fran has been investigating whether or not the OLM medallions were ever affixed to the B-250, and he has found some evidence that at least a few were. This ad illustrates the official use of the term with the B-250 as well as the beloved Chippendale.

Thanks for sharing this, Dave!

George P.

Thanks for reminding me, Dave and George! I was tempted to post an image of the complex after the fire, from Wendell Moores work on the Edison Phonograph Monthly, but I got busy with other things and forgot to.

The image below is from the January 1916 Special Fire Edition of the Edison Works Monthly that he digitized in May 1989.

All of Mr. Moores work on the E.P.M. can be found at https://archive.org/ in this link https://archive.org/search.php?query=ed ... pe%3Atexts

I've noted advertisements proclaiming the "Official Laboratory Model Model B 250 Modern Renaissance Price $250" in the Talking Machine World as early as the November 15, 1915 issue.

It certainly seems that an entirely new mentality was unleashed from the ashes of the Great Fire!

So much changed for our beloved Diamond Disc Phonographs!

Fran

No mention of this anywhere on their website, not even in the news release or
upcoming events section which seems to be up to date.