The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

This older horn was found in an estate sale with no other phono stuff.
What is it?
Is it a specific brand, like Columbia, or is it a generic aftermarket company?

What I have been told so far, is that it is an early cylinder recording/play back horn
approx. 1898-1904. Possibly Hawthorne & Sheble or the Tea Tray Company.
The handle was likely added at some point to make a mega-phone.

Here are the specs...

Small opening is ⅝"
Large opening is 12.5"
Height is 27.5"
Handle is a 1" wide strap, with a 3" opening
(Other that this handle, I do not see the remains of anther hanging style.)
It once had two bands painted on it.
Also, it looks to have had a shield shaped decal on it. (see photo) (it also could have added later)
The cone is constructed with two seams.

James

My humble opinion:

If someone had wanted to make a megaphone of this horn, they would have cut off the small end to a convenient diameter for a mouthpiece.

My instinctive reaction is that this is an original horn from the 1890s - 1900s period.

Bill

I agree with Bill, except I'd date it to the 1890s exclusively because of the strap hanger (which appears original in the photos). This is an example of the popular "26 inch horn" that George Tewksbury described in A Complete Manual of the Edison Phonograph. Up until about 1900 this type horn was considered the standard for cylinder talking machine reproduction.

It's a bit unusual for the strap to lack serrations, but several companies were making these in the 1890s, and even within one particular company's product, the smooth strap may have given way to one with serrations. Since these horns were supposed to be suspended with a piece of ribbon, the serrations were not as important as they would become when suspension evolved to a metal hook.

I can't identify the maker. I sure wish that decal were still legible!

George P.

Great information!

Has anyone a old photograph of how a Ribbon Hanger originally looked?

James.

Roaring20s wrote:Great information!

Has anyone a old photograph of how a Ribbon Hanger originally looked?

James.

The front cover of A World of Antique Phonographs features the photo of an exhibitor using a Type N Graphophone equipped with a brass horn suspended by a ribbon. (This photo is also Fig. 2-22 in the same book.)

The book, Phonographica also contains a photo of an exhibitor using a Type K Graphophone sporting a large japanned horn suspended with a large, rather artfully arranged ribbon.

I'd like to see more!

George P.

Here are a couple of pictures of the horn that came with a Columbia AT that I picked at an auction of a bunch of phonographs. It is very similar, 27 inches in length with a ribbon type handle and gold ring around the horn.

Rich Gordon

Rich, is the cone constructed with one or two seams?

It has one seam.

Rich Gordon

Here is an ad that I found interesting. It's from a 1909 Sears and Roebuck catalog and shows these cone horns being sold as a package with a Harvard Talking Machine. I never knew these horns were offered that late.