Amberola 1A cabinet sawed in half

[Chilesave]

Did anyone in the forum happen to win the bid on this amberola 1A that auctioned today?

I tried to bid but Ebay did not connect so my bid was not taken. Frustrating!

I hope a forum member won the bid and is planning to sell the mechanism.

[oldphonographsteve]

Who are these people who saw phonographs in half, and why? I seriously don't understand the benefit of butchering them like this.

-Steve

[rgordon939]

I was bidding but was not the winning bid. I think the lot sold for $2300.00. The M reproducer is worth at least half that.

Rich Gordon

[estott]

Who are these people who saw phonographs in half, and why? I seriously don't understand the benefit of butchering them like this.

-Steve

Generally this sort of thing took place many decades ago when the machine was of minor value. In one instance I know of the bottom of the case had been ruined by damp.

[FellowCollector]

I completely agree with Rich and Eric above. The model M reproducer along with the Edison Home and Edison Standard Model E with N reproducer included also in this lot with the Amberola 1A made this a good deal for the winning bidder.

Regarding the truncating of the Amberola 1A I think we can be reasonably confident that it would have been done only due to irreversible damage to the cabinet bottom and not for any other reason. At least the prior owner retained the most important parts IMHO.

[JerryVan]

Am I the only one, who when they read a subject line like, "Sawed in Half...", picture a right half & left half?


Agree the these kinds of things were done very long ago.

[A Ford 1]

My thought is a long time ago, when new cylinders were not available or the decorator decided it out of sync with the furnishings, the wife or husband decided it was time for a new phonograph. After the new phonograph was placed there was no room for the Edison but one of the two did not want to discard the cylinder record collection and the base was cut off to place it in it's new location (table, sheet music cabinet, etc.).

[Victrolacollector]

How much is that motor worth?

[VintageTechnologies]

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[bob27556]

I recall a post from a long time ago on the subject of cutting floor standing models in half. The theory was at the time this technology was becoming outdated, renting cabins at lakes and mountain resorts was a popular vacation option. Folks would cut off the bottom of their old phono cabinet so the music making section would fit into the car. The old machine lives on as a portable for vacation time.