The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I read Mr. Wakeman's book found here, http://www.antiquephono.org/category/book-feature/ which is about the history of the Sonora Phonograph company. The story begins with Sonora's manufacturing manufacturing chiming mechanisms for clocks in 1906. The following year the Sonora Chime Company announced the intention of producing a talking machine. The Style O Sonoraphone was their first offering. A modest beginning for what would be a very big manufacturer of a full line of talking machines.

I was especially interested in the history of the company being a proud owner of a Sonora Invincible. The book feature goes way beyond a dry reading of history with connections to many other manufacturers. The period pictures in the book are worth looking at even if you don't care to read the entire book. There is so much in this book to interest the Talking Machine forum readers that I hope you all take the time to read it and Mr. Wakeman's other excellent books.

The Sonora book is in the PDF format and I will be printing up a copy to keep with my machine so that future owners will benefit from it's telling of history. Thank you Mr. Wakeman and thanks to the Antique Phonograph Society.

On behalf of the APS, we're glad you enjoyed Mr. Wakeman's book on Sonora Phonographs. We're happy to report that Mr. Wakeman has another book on the way - this one on Aeolian-Vocalion. More information on a major manufacturer unavailable anywhere else.

George P.

where do I get the book

cheryla wrote:where do I get the book

The book on Sonora, along with books on Brunswick, Cheney, Aeolian-Vocalion, and others, plus over 30,000 pages of phonograph-related documents dating from 1890 to the present, are available to APS members on the APS web site:

https://www.antiquephono.org/join-us-home/

APS members also receive a quarterly magazine, full-color, 52 pages minimum, full of articles and illustrations. The March issue will be mailed in just a few days!

George P.

We should all praise R.J., George Paul, and APS for making all these phonograph related documents and articles available. I'm glad I'm a member of APS and looking forward to the APS show in August. Without R. J. Wakeman, where else could you find a book on Cheney phonographs, or Brunswick, etc.! Long may they live!!!

I deserve no praise for this. Mr. Wakeman is the author, and Rod Pickett does the lion's share of uploading to the web site. An unsung hero is Rich Buck, who has spent many, many hours scanning and uploading catalogs, books, pamphlets, and magazines to the "members only" online archive.

George P.

Thanks to everyone at the APS for all their efforts.