The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

This has got to be one of the rarest pieces of ephemera I have ever seen. One would think the bidding would be stratospheric for this, but then I suppose the pool of Biophone owners is indeed quite small! Attention Rene!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... TQ:US:1123

John M

This definitely should belong to Rene! I suggest we all agree to rub out other bidders!

George P.

Wow... never seen this attachment before. Pretty wild!

That's something you don't see every day! They can't have sold many of these.
I wonder how it sounded.

Paal.

phonophan79 wrote:Wow... never seen this attachment before. Pretty wild!

Jf you've ever watched the movie "My Fair Lady", there's one at the top of the stairs in Professor Higgins' flat.

WOW awsome find John!!! Rene you definitly need this. Anyone know who made "my Fair Lady"? Because i have a friend that works for Warner Bros and has full access to old prop rooms along with everthing else and if Rene's IS NOT the one from the movie and WB made the movie i might be able to find the other one

Get It Rene!!

Aaron

As far as I know, Rene's Biophone is the only one known to exist. There's a neat story behind it:

The device was manufactured by the Devineau Biophone Company, of Cleveland Ohio, and first marketed in 1907 at $15.00. No doubt very few were sold. But sharp-eyed watchers of My Fair Lady may have wondered what the contraption is on the stair landing mounted to an Edison Triumph. Freeze a frame and you'll see a Devineau Biophone, of all things.

It's possible that Rene's example is that same Biophone; sold off by the studio years ago. In any event, Pat Jones of California acquired this only known example in the late 1990s. I asked him if he'd be willing to bring it to the Union show in June 1998 so we could photograph it for our next book, Antique Phonograph gadgets, Gizmos, and Gimmicks. Pat very kindly agreed, which brings me to the best part of this story...

We were setting up the shot in the big room at Union. Unfortunately, the Biophone's sound box had disappeared over the years, so we were preparing to use a Victor Exhibition for the photo. Don Gfell was standing nearby with a group of spectators, and all the talk about "Biophone" jarred his memory. He went back to his booth, dug through a box of miscellaneous parts, and returned to our shoot with - - AN ORIGINAL DEVINEAU BIOPHONE SOUND BOX! Now what are the chances? Pat Jones looked like he had seen a ghost, and it didn't take long for a deal to be consummated. I was tickled that the Biophone had been miraculously made whole once more, and we were very pleased to show the Biophone attachment and a closeup of its sound box in our book. A few years later, Pat decided to sell the Biophone, and Rene was the lucky "right place/right time" fellow.

Needless to say, I'd be most pleased to see the newly-surfaced brochure go to Rene.

George P.

Aaron wrote:WOW awsome find John!!! Rene you definitly need this. Anyone know who made "my Fair Lady"? Because i have a friend that works for Warner Bros and has full access to old prop rooms along with everthing else and if Rene's IS NOT the one from the movie and WB made the movie i might be able to find the other one

Get It Rene!!

Aaron

It WAS a Warner Bros. film! Go get it, Aaron! (Ahhh - to be young again...! )

George P.

I'll talk to my friends Dad tomarrow. HE HELPED INVENT THE DVD!!!! So WB is there biggest buyer from his company(other companys now have Disney and other movie makers) And infact he is going to WB studios this month to shut down a DVD plant in CA. Ill ask him to take a look for me. He is best friends with many of the CEO's and members of different crews. I'm sure he'll ask for me!! We'll see...! Ill give you an update on sunday as i will be away over the weekend.

Wish me luck

Aaron

EDIT ADDED: WHY DID THE BIDDING END!!!!!! Rene did you get it!!!!!

I taught photography at USC Cinema & Television Department in the early 80's and got in several prop houses, and while I saw a LOT of phonographs, I never saw a Biophone! That is not to say I got in all the prop houses. Mark Ulano -- who won an Oscar for the sound for the film Titanic -- is an advanced phonograph collector. I'm sure he has checked out all the prop houses since he is actually in the industry, whereas I just taught.

John M