The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I was wondering what the scene must have been at stores carrying Edison phonograph products after the announcement. Of course, this coincided with the beginning of the Great Depression. Was it a fire sale with deeply discounted prices on Edison Diamond Disc records and machines? Lucius1958 (Bill) mentioned a family friend with a Victrola which had a lone Diamond Disc in the cabinet. In my own relatives' record collection, I discovered two Diamond Discs (early in the 51000s), although they never owned an Edison machine. Indeed, one of them was destroyed by being played with a steel needle long before I found it. This leads me to speculate that maybe these Diamond Discs were purchased because they were sold far below cost, and that the buyer (in my case) was unaware of the incompatibility with steel needles. I can imagine the Edison disc machines, probably a tough sell before this time, was even more difficult after production stopped, even at bargain prices.

A lot of them evidently was bought up by Mr. Ferguson who remained as a repair man for quite some time after the company had gone out of business. From what I understand his collection of unsold records is still being peddled on Ebay from time to time.

Larry

Here's a video of an Edisonic Beethoven playing a Sizzlers record of "Somebody Stole my Gal". Toward the end of the song, the owner shows the original sales receipt for the Beethoven. It normally cost $225 retail, but the receipt is dated December, 1929, after Edison had stopped making any more commercial records. The price: $25 for the Beethoven!!! That must have made for a nice Xmas present for Dec. 25, 1929! Marc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBdB73SOpi4

marcapra wrote:The price: $25 for the Beethoven!!! [/b] That must have made for a nice Xmas present for Dec. 25, 1929! Marc.

Seen from the collector's perspective 80 years apart, it may look as a bargain, but at the time it was a machine that could not play any contemporary music anymore, it was a museum piece when these things were too new to belong in a museum. It would be like buying a video cassete player player today. Maybe video cassetes will be collectible in 2100, who knows?

25 dollars is a weeks pay for an average working stiff back then. So, translate that to 400-500 dollars now ? Edisonics are rare, I get that.

CarlosV wrote:

marcapra wrote:The price: $25 for the Beethoven!!! [/b] That must have made for a nice Xmas present for Dec. 25, 1929! Marc.

Seen from the collector's perspective 80 years apart, it may look as a bargain, but at the time it was a machine that could not play any contemporary music anymore, it was a museum piece when these things were too new to belong in a museum. It would be like buying a video cassete player player today. Maybe video cassetes will be collectible in 2100, who knows?

A 1929 Edison was not quite obsolete, because it invariably included a Lateral adapter.