The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

A while ago, I found a early Home (H3681) without any decal on the cover. Later on, I found another cover with a decent decal and, a few days ago, I discovered in the Compleat that, although the Home was the first Edison phonograph with a decal, some early models didn’t have it...
So my question is very basic: which cover should I use?.....
Thanks for your help,
Jeff

that number H3681 is a very low and desirable home phonograph. It came out with a case called a suitcase that had four latches on it to hold the lid down. The plate was loose inside the case being held on with two metal dowel pins... Two latches on the front and two latches on the back held it together... THE base did not have a decal on it and was plain.. The red banner lid lasted to around s/n 42000 where the case was changed to the present day one in shape and the red banner was moved to the case off from the lid. The red banner case lasted to around s/n. 52000 where it went with the brown banner on the front of the case. Hope this helps Tom B

Jeff,
I think you need to evaluate if your lid has been refinished or not. I'd expect a Home machine in the 3600s to have a Red Banner on the lid. Any number of things could have happened in the past 119 years. I'd be tempted to keep it together "as found". It might be original with the Banner removed, or an early replacement with a very early Banner-less lid (a lot less likely - I've yet to see an original one without a Banner).

If the lid shows signs of having been refinished, then there is your likely answer. If it does seem refinished, I'd either show it as-is or add a decal from Gregg Cline. To me, an original machine is far more valuable than a machine cobbled together from pieces of other machines. For instance: I'd rather have an otherwise original machine with its case refinished than to swap out a nice case with original finish from some other machine. Obviously, in this scenario, an unmolested original machine is still the ideal.

Anyway, very nice find! If you have an inclination to add your Home to my data sheet, please post a photo or two (or more). I'll be happy to post my updated excel sheet here.

Regards,
Martin

For what it's worth, the 2 oldest known Homes, with clockwork motors, both have decals on the lid. I'm inclined to doubt that any were made without decals.

I've owned 2 Homes with serial numbers between 1100 and 1450 and they had decals as well.

I agree with Martin and Rene - I've never seen a Home without a decal unless it had been stripped/refinished.

George P.