The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I was wondering why Edison chose to tint the New Style cabinets green when they were manufactured. You see an occasional green Graphophone but I don't recall seeing other oak pieces from that era done in green. Was it a quickly passing fad or ???

Jerry Blais

Great question Jerry - I would like to know that too since I have an Edison Gem that is a very green oak cabinet - very green....

I thought we'd get a few replies on this thread. We're four pages into the color and finish on Amberola 30s.

Jerry Blais

Jerry B. wrote:I thought we'd get a few replies on this thread. We're four pages into the color and finish on Amberola 30s.

Jerry Blais

George P.

I did find mention of oak furniture in the 1890-1900 being treated with a green colored dye and finished with a green tinted varnish, so it must have been a trend back then.
https://books.google.com/books?id=BDgEA ... 7s&f=false

http://artsandcraftshomes.com/fumed-oak-wood-stains/

The greens they were using in those days were also not very color-fast, so it's hard to tell how long they actually stayed that bright green color. Before the coal tar dyes came out, green was actually a pretty toxic color to have around as a rule. And you'll see in old cook books and other periodicals back in the days before the coal tar dyes mentioning which colors not to have around children or use in weaving blankets et. Vegetable dyes were one thing, but they weren't really bright, so all sorts of things were used for colors that we wouldn't even consider today.

When the coal tar dyes were developed, people just went crazy with colors that were simply not affordable previously. But most of those dyes fade pretty badly, blues, greens and reds especially. And the blue fades to an awful shade of green, and that's why blue was not a commonly used color in Victorian times. Blue was used on porch ceiling, but that was because bugs won't build nests on it, and flies won't generally land on it either. You didn't get fly specks all over the ceiling that way. It's really kind of hard to imagine how they thought up all that stuff and figured it out.

I only have one Edison Green Oak Machine, and It's an Edison Home Model B, Ser.# H151647 - Model B - (1905 Late) - Left Factory October 1905.

It's the only Green Oak Machine I own... and it was also the very first machine that I ever acquired.

)

Tony K.

Edison Collector/Restorer

EarlH wrote: Before the coal tar dyes came out, green was actually a pretty toxic color to have around as a rule. And you'll see in old cook books and other periodicals back in the days before the coal tar dyes mentioning which colors not to have around children or use in weaving blankets et.

.

In fact, a popular green (and sometimes yellow) dye was made with arsenic. It wasn't until a number of deaths were traced to its use that it was banned as a dye: however, it later found use as a pesticide ("Paris green")...

Bill

Great question! I have been going into antique shops, flea markets etc. for over 40 years and have never seen any furniture finished in that green oak like Edison used. Has anyone else ever seen other pieced of furniture finished like that?
Dave D

Can someone post a few photos of this color on a machine, I would like to see what were talking about.