The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

A few years ago I was able to purchase this 4-clip square case standard from the original family. It came with both the automatic reproducer, recorder, and period correct records and horn. The question is why does it not have a serial number stamped? Any explanation would be appreciated. Thanks, John

I had two without the serial number in the raised boss. The first one someone had intentionally filled it off and we came to a conclusion that it was in the 10000 serial number range from some of the hidden stampings not quiet taken off. The other one had the serial number in the knife edge only and the raised boss was not touched. The workers at Edison just must have made a mistake and their quality control did not catch it. It probably did not matter to the people who purchased them at first because they were not looking at the historical value then. They only wanted a machine to play. We thought the one filed off was from a dealer who wanted to discount it . See pictures.

I suspect it was taken in trade by a dealer that didn't want to violate Edison's strict agreements and later sold as a used machine. The serial numbers were removed to make it difficult to trace. Jerry Blais

As mentioned the two main reasons for removing serial numbers were not to violate the Edison dealer agreement or because they were stolen. There are two or three methods of recovering serial numbers both chemical and electrical.

Rich Gordon