The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Well, yesterday I journeyed up to Providence, and brought home Cody's L-door XVI, rescuing it from the horrible fate of parting out.

Once I had wrangled it into my condo (sacrificing my sacroiliac and abdominal muscles in payment), and put it back together, I thought I heard distant laughter from inside the machine.

I investigated...and found this stowaway. Happy holidays, everyone!

Bill

I love the "L" door Victrolas and it looks like yours has found a good home. Jerry

Here's the first record played on it: Christmas, Italian style...

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3j2td ... feis_music

Bill

You know, Bill, though I try to remember every little thing to disclose when selling a phonograph, I must have forgotten to tell you that Santa Claus lives in your phonograph! Hope you don't mind -- he doesn't eat much, and as long as you put some newspapers down in the area under the horn and change them once a week or so, he isn't much of a problem. At least once you get used to his occasional demented bursts ho-ho-hoing at 4am. (Once the holiday season's over, the sobbing and muttering from inside the machine about job security and automation are a little annoying, tho.)

Folks, I'd like to commend Bill on really heroic effort. What he doesn't mention is that it took two trips: the first time, we got the lid off, motor out, brightwork boxed up, got the cabinet down a flight of stairs (and our combined ages add up to more years than the machine has racked up, so, ouch) and out to his car, only to find that because of the way the legs splay out at the bottom, and a peculiarity in the design of the door frame, it was not gonna fit in the back seat of his car. Brought it all back in to the downstairs foyer, came in and shared a pot of coffee and thunk about it...er, strategized. When Bill left, I took a look at the machine and swore that, after all that, it was not getting carried back upstairs, except as boxes of parts for sale.

Bill managed to find a hatchback he could use, so when he came back to PVD from "where there's hamburger ALL OVER the highway"*, everything was ready to go and loading was easy-peasy. I'm glad to know that old Eldora has a good new home; she's a great old girl. And now she's in movies!

So yeah, it really was a Christmas rescue.

Wishing everyone on the Forum a Happy Christmas and a Merry New Year!



*thanks, Bill, for telling me what this means. Firesign Theater! Of course!