A85 - The old grey mare just aint what she used to be

[SydneyAde]

I thought I would share this with you.

Apologies in advance if the pics are inverted, past experience says they won't load correctly, no
matter what I do.

The old grey mare landed with a thud this afternoon, literally, with a piece of rope tied around it,
and my address on a piece of cardboard under the rope.

Booked to ship on 29 Dec with 3-4 days shipping…. Sure…

I think this one is really going to have to wait, the lid was nailed shut, and the lid edges have been chamfered,
albeit unevenly.

The base has wood-worm damage and the some of the timber casing is split in various places and it’s coming apart
at the seams. It needs the main spring repaired – it’s rattling around inside the cabinet.

The bedplate is in surprisingly good condition. The machine was purchased from its owner in South Australia (hot and
dry climate), and transported to Queensland (tropical climate) in the last 20 years.

I wonder if the reproducer (not Edison as you can see) might give any clue as to who could have built the cabinet?
It looks like the grill cloth was either cream/gold/white originally.

A piece of cake for some of you good people, I’m sure. I don’t think I’ll touch this until I’m well and truly skilled up and ready,
given it probably belongs in a museum.

As you can see (in the background), I’m in the midst of painting the house, and I’m supposed to be on holidays, so first things first.

The fellow I purchased it from is a genuinely nice bloke, although he clearly is not a collector of things Edison.

Ade

[Lucius1958]

The adapter is certainly a third-party product, and has no relation to the cabinet makers (at this time, Edison was adamantly opposed to their dealers selling lateral adapters - at least in the US: the overseas markets were another matter).

Unfortunately, Frow (although he does cite a number of cabinet manufacturers) does not mention a source for the A-85: it remains a mystery....

Bill

[budsta]

I like these machines. A lot more interesting than a London table model. They do show up from time to time here in Australia.
Good luck with the restoration and house painting.

Stephen

[STARR-OLA]

Dang im jealous .

[VintageTechnologies]

Apologies in advance if the pics are inverted, past experience says they won't load correctly, no matter what I do.

Actually, there *is* something you can do. I have noticed the same problem after taking pictures with my iPhone. The picture may contain information how the camera was oriented. Here's what you do - open the picture in a photo-editing program. If the picture appears sideways or upside down, use the software to rotate the picture onscreen and resave the picture. Some editing programs may be too smart and automatically rotate the picture upright onscreen while the internal file information still indicates the picture is sideways. Even though the picture may look right, resave it anyway.

[SydneyAde]

Thanks Bill, in the process of tapering into phonographs as a hobby I’m learning about the incredible history around Edison, his business and the market generally (not to mention Henry Ford).

I guess there are some sorts of records somewhere, possibly the archives of a newspaper may hold the secret?

Here are a few adverts that appeared in newspapers of major Australian cities during 1917 for the A85, and which I thought might offer a clue to cabinet manufacture, but alas. The following are links to digitised newspapers that are kept in the publically available Australian Government Archives:

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article ... rchLimits=

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article ... rchLimits=

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article ... outh+Wales

Thanks Stephen, that’s really good to know re possible availability of other similar machines, even in the sense of spares, given the extensive damage to the cabinet of this one. First glance it looks fine, though if you hone in on the pics some of the damage then becomes apparent.

I guess impending retirement has brought on a resurgence in my interest in phonographs, and of course the house repairs I’ve been putting off for the last 15 years, and which need to take precedence for obvious reasons.

Starr, I hear you mate, though I reckon the real excitement and pride comes with the restoration on any machine, be it an A100, a Standard or a Gem. As well as all the things you learn along the way.

Thanks VT, I’ll give that a shot, I’ve tried a few different things, but what you say seems to make perfect sense.

Regards Ade

[Lucius1958]

While parts for the mechanism should be available (it used the same works as the A-100), original cabinet parts may be much more difficult to find: Frow mentions only a few known examples in the UK and Australia, and the cabinet design was unique to this model.

Fortunately, the design is simple, and you can make new pieces (or have them made) if the wood is beyond repair.

As for the grille cloth, many oak cased DDs used a brownish-gold silk finish material at that time...

Good luck with this rarely seen Phonograph!

Bill

[NEFaurora]

Wow, Nice machine!

Definitely a rare one here in the U.S.

Were these only made for UK/AUS Export only??

)

Tony K.

Edison Collector/Restorer

[SydneyAde]

Hi Tony, thanks !

According to George L Frow (The Edison Diamond Disc Phonographs and the Diamond Discs) only a few of the A85s have been reported from Australia, New Zealand and Norway, possibly survivors from and order of February 1917 in quartered oak and wax finish at $33 for export. It is not explained how these were shipped, contrary to war restrictions at the time. I have quoted directly from Frow’s book (highly recommended, as well as his book on Cylinder phonos & also Eric Reiss’ the Compleat Talking machine, as well as Tim Fabrizio’s books).

The A85 machine looks relatively ok in my pics, but there is significant worm/termite damage on the underside, splits in the sides you cannot see, and a whole lot of other damage. BUT… I am grateful that it survives...

Although, Stephen (reply above) said these A85 machines come up for sale from time to time here in AUS, which is consoling.

Also Bill (reply above) said that it’s possible during the repair process to utilize other parts (the A 100 mechanism is used on the A85 or the other way around). Also I have noticed that the timber mouldings around the base are very similar to Amberola 30 mouldings. I would probably have to chase around for a damaged Amberola 30 cabinet, though the moulding length really isn’t sufficient for this machine.

Regards Ade