The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I recently bought an Edison S-19 Diamond Disc Phonograph. The serial number is 80088. Is there a database of S-19's that is anything like the database on here of Edisonic machines?

AFAIK, no. The closest is the effort to assign serial number ranges to some machines based on their packing slips. You can read about that in a long thread on this board.

IIRC, the S-19 would have been part of the 1919 update of all Diamond Disc machines and would have lasted until the Edisonics came out in 1927.

Did they actually stop making C-19 after the Edisonic was introduced?
Allen

The "C-19" and "S-19" Diamond Disc machines were both introduced in 1918. I believe that "C-19" manufacture ceased in 1927, and "S-19" possibly a bit later in 1928. When "S-19" production ceased at the Edison factory, Edison had a few hundred extra empty "S-19" cabinets leftover so the cabinets were re-purposed as "Amberola 80" 4-minute cylinder machines and exported to the UK and a few machines stayed here in the U.S. . The rest of the empty "S-19" cabinets were sold off by Edison and other Edison jobbers as cabinets for Record Storage use.

)

Tony K.

Edison Collector/Restorer

NEFaurora wrote:The "C-19" and "S-19" Diamond Disc machines were both introduced in 1918. I believe that "C-19" manufacture ceased in 1927, and "S-19" possibly a bit later in 1928. When "S-19" production ceased at the Edison factory, Edison had a few hundred extra empty "S-19" cabinets leftover so the cabinets were re-purposed as "Amberola 80" 4-minute cylinder machines and exported to the UK and a few machines stayed here in the U.S. . The rest of the empty "S-19" cabinets were sold off by Edison and other Edison jobbers as cabinets for Record Storage use.

)

Tony K.

Edison Collector/Restorer

The "19" series of phonograph models were introduced in April 1919; and were referred to by Mr. Frow, as "The Post-War Models" (see The Edison Disc Phonographs and the Diamond Discs" George L. Frow, 2001, pg. 144 and onward).

Best,
Fran

A Ford 1 wrote:Did they actually stop making C-19 after the Edisonic was introduced?
Allen

I personally believe the company may have stopped "routine" production of the C 19 by the end of 1925. This may be considered controversial by some, but it's my belief -- through my research -- that likely by 1923 the Chippendale Upright had fallen into disregard as the lesser expensive models came into favor.

I also believe that the C 19 was produced after December 1925, but in a very limited, or perhaps even at an "on demand" basis, and in my opinion, this could explain why some very late C 19 units are found with "gun-metal" finished hardware and reproducers used on them.

Certainly the introduction of the Long Playing models would have also had an impact on the sales of the C 19, as great effort was expended by Charles Edison to revive the Phonograph Works with this new technology. But it seems that his efforts came too late, as these models were abandoned after only about a year from late 1926 through late 1927, ushering in the Edisonic models in time for Thomas Edison's Golden Jubilee.

Best,
Fran

GrafonolaG50 wrote:I recently bought an Edison S-19 Diamond Disc Phonograph. The serial number is 80088. Is there a database of S-19's that is anything like the database on here of Edisonic machines?

52089 wrote:AFAIK, no. The closest is the effort to assign serial number ranges to some machines based on their packing slips. You can read about that in a long thread on this board.

IIRC, the S-19 would have been part of the 1919 update of all Diamond Disc machines and would have lasted until the Edisonics came out in 1927.

I agree, there is no such database to my knowledge.

Best,
Fran

I read in Frow that the only Edison phonographs, besides maybe the last of the Long Play machines, being manufactured in 1927 were the two Edisonics and the London upright as the entry level machine. These three machines continued to be built along with the C-1, C-2, and C-4 radio/phono combos until 1929.

Plus the P1 and P2 portables, though sales on those were minuscule.