The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

You may have heard the expression "A Barn Find" on many things for sale on ebay, but this quite literally was found in a barn that is about to be torn down. This is an Edison Projecting Kinetoscope, probably from around 1900 to 1902. Not really sure. As you can see, it has had a rough life sitting in the barn for so many years, but I am quite excited about the restoration work that I have ahead of me. It is fairly complete, but it is missing the brackets that hold both film reels and several other parts. I now begin my search for the parts that I need. If any Forum members might have any parts or advice on this machine I would love to hear from them. This is my first time working on a Projecting Kinetoscope, but I have started researching them. You will notice that the original carbon-arc burner has been replaced with a period Acetylene burner that would have had an Acetylene Generator with it. This was one of the optional sources of light for the period projectors. I thought that I would share this with the Forum, they are pretty rare pieces. Thanks, and if any member can share some parts or information about this, I would love to hear from them.

Bill

Holy crap!

That looks like fun!

Great find but what a project! If you intend on restoring it please post pics.

Dan

Amazing!

That is freaking awesome! I am especially delighted that you have all the lenses. Those will polish out very nicely. I bet all those acetylene jets will be quite a show burning at one time. I collect early lighting including gas as well as phonos, plus I used to be a Kodak employee. So seeing things like this is a lot of fun for me. You really should restore it (and post pictures). It provides variety for your collection.

Steve

WOW!! If anyone can bring this back to life it will be you. You might want to reach out to Phonohound on the forum for more information. I think he has one of these.

Great barn find... Have fun restoring. Tom B

Congratulations on finding such a treasure. It's rare enough that the nice people at the Edison museums in Edison and West Orange, NJ may be able to help you. They have some machines they use and volunteers who repair them, maybe they can point you in the right direction.

That is a most wonderful find. I think it is will turn out nicely. I understand finding one with the original light soucre is very difficult.

Thanks Ken. Yes, I do have an example from the 1907-8 period. Bill, I'd be happy to help answer any questions you might have. My model was pulled from the People's Theater in Blissfield, MI. What makes this one special is it came with the accounting log book, showing theater operating costs, equipment needed, people's names, etc. It also came with glass lantern slides tailored for that specific theater audience. There is also a catalog for carbons and the lighthouse has an arc lamp for its source of light. The table the kinetoscope sits on is probably a custom table and there is also a non-Edison iris attachment that stops the light from reaching the film when closed. It also came with both original wood-core reels and original leather belt. The film reel is probably from the 40s and I actually ran it.

Here are some links to photos of when I first received it.

Your example is awesome and untouched. It will be nice to see it when restored.

Scott

http://webpages.charter.net/phonographs ... scope1.jpg
http://webpages.charter.net/phonographs ... scope2.jpg
http://webpages.charter.net/phonographs ... scope3.jpg
http://webpages.charter.net/phonographs ... scope4.jpg
http://webpages.charter.net/phonographs ... scope5.jpg