Beautiful Circassian L-Door XVI
Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2015 10:56 pm
Well last June at Union, one of the wants on my wish list, was to find a really nice original Circassian L-Door XVI. There was a really nice Circassian VTLA in Dominic’s booth, but I was hoping for a later machine without the fretwork at the top. Years ago I had the privilege of seeing Roger Merenkov’s Circassian L-Door XVI, and was stunned by its beautiful wood-grained patterns and the simplicity of its styling. At the time I had a similar Mahogany L-Door, and was just blown away by his machine. I told myself that someday I would own such a machine.
Fast forward 25 years to this years show, and I was finally ready to go for it. I found out about this machine from David Rosamond, who told me he had a friend in Dallas who might be willing to part with his machine. As it turned out, David’s friend just happened to be David Boruff, who I had met in previous years at Union. I drove down to Dallas with a Glass-Sided Zonophone Type “A” in hand , with the hopes that we could work out some kind of a deal. It turns out that I ended up bringing home both the Zonophone and the L-Door, (I just couldn’t part with my sweet little A).
According to David, this untouched machine was purchased in Denton, TX, from a person who said that he had acquired it from the descendants of the original owners in Denver. Sadly David didn’t know who he bought it from, or who the original owners were. The machine has a dealers tag from The Knight-Campbell Music Co. Denver, Colorado. David showed me that the machine had many record catalogs and extras that were stamped with the Knight-Campbell Logo, and also relayed that many of the records in the albums matched what was written in the original Record Index.
Since bringing this machine home, the only thing which I have done to it is to give it a quick wipe down with GoJo. The finish appears to be 100% untouched original and is nearly flawless! I was amazed at how it really popped after cleaning. The only other thing which I plan to do is to re-grease the springs, as it has the occasional “bug-a-rump”. I went thru the Index and the Albums, and to my amazement the machine contained 95 of the original 99 records listed, many operatics!
One very interesting thing which I did find in the albums were several home recordings by Emma DeSpain, and one home recording of the 25th Wedding Anniversary of Emma and John DeSpain, dated 1948, Denver. Emma had a very lovely “operatic” voice, and one can’t help but wonder if this machine was purchased by her parents, and then given to her as a wedding present. Searching the internet thus far I have found out that John was born 1897, and Emma was born 1900. They were married in 1923, and lived in Denver. Sadly John died in 1970 and Emma died in 1990. Apparently they didn’t have any children, but Emma had 3 sisters which married and had children. (For now, I continue to research).
I did manage to find some 1913 photographs of The Knight-Campbell Music Co., 1625 California St., Denver, Colorado.
Cheers, Bob S.
P.S.: A special thanks to my daughter for letting me use her really good camera!
Fast forward 25 years to this years show, and I was finally ready to go for it. I found out about this machine from David Rosamond, who told me he had a friend in Dallas who might be willing to part with his machine. As it turned out, David’s friend just happened to be David Boruff, who I had met in previous years at Union. I drove down to Dallas with a Glass-Sided Zonophone Type “A” in hand , with the hopes that we could work out some kind of a deal. It turns out that I ended up bringing home both the Zonophone and the L-Door, (I just couldn’t part with my sweet little A).
According to David, this untouched machine was purchased in Denton, TX, from a person who said that he had acquired it from the descendants of the original owners in Denver. Sadly David didn’t know who he bought it from, or who the original owners were. The machine has a dealers tag from The Knight-Campbell Music Co. Denver, Colorado. David showed me that the machine had many record catalogs and extras that were stamped with the Knight-Campbell Logo, and also relayed that many of the records in the albums matched what was written in the original Record Index.
Since bringing this machine home, the only thing which I have done to it is to give it a quick wipe down with GoJo. The finish appears to be 100% untouched original and is nearly flawless! I was amazed at how it really popped after cleaning. The only other thing which I plan to do is to re-grease the springs, as it has the occasional “bug-a-rump”. I went thru the Index and the Albums, and to my amazement the machine contained 95 of the original 99 records listed, many operatics!
One very interesting thing which I did find in the albums were several home recordings by Emma DeSpain, and one home recording of the 25th Wedding Anniversary of Emma and John DeSpain, dated 1948, Denver. Emma had a very lovely “operatic” voice, and one can’t help but wonder if this machine was purchased by her parents, and then given to her as a wedding present. Searching the internet thus far I have found out that John was born 1897, and Emma was born 1900. They were married in 1923, and lived in Denver. Sadly John died in 1970 and Emma died in 1990. Apparently they didn’t have any children, but Emma had 3 sisters which married and had children. (For now, I continue to research).
I did manage to find some 1913 photographs of The Knight-Campbell Music Co., 1625 California St., Denver, Colorado.
Cheers, Bob S.
P.S.: A special thanks to my daughter for letting me use her really good camera!
