The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I read Off Brand Talking Machines by R.J. Wakeman https://www.antiquephono.org/brand-talk ... j-wakeman/ and I was fascinated by the variety of designs made by so many different companies. Yesterday I did my usual internet search for upright phonographs for sale on ebay, facebook and craigslist. I usually see some interesting off brand machines, but yesterday I decided to download one photo of each and find out how many I could accumulate. I live near Chicago so this is from Illinois and the adjacent States. I would like to see what off brand phonographs you are coming across in your part of country. Click on the photos to enlarge.

Great topic! One that is close to my heart.... lol. I will see if I can grab some photos of my off brands and contribute...

I'm actually working on a project that will be "phonoarchive.com" in the future that focusses on all phonograph companies. It's a one man project, but of course I will be getting help from the forum to collect info, models, etc. The website will have a "submit" feature where you can submit you're "off brand" phonograph as long as it fits the criteria.

Martin

Martin, if I could be any help, let me know. Feel free to link over to www.james-gail.com for Granby information directly from your website once you get to that point. Although my website is kind of broad in scope right now, I have a few pages tailored toward my Granby research and model info. I plan to update it some more in the future....

cjstoessner wrote:Martin, if I could be any help, let me know. Feel free to link over to http://www.james-gail.com for Granby information directly from your website once you get to that point. Although my website is kind of broad in scope right now, I have a few pages tailored toward my Granby research and model info. I plan to update it some more in the future....

I plan to add a descent amount of info on niche subjects, such as an archive for record repeaters, phonograph dancing dolls, off brand phonographs, and reproducers. I will definitely look towards you're website when I get to G's. (I'm sorting the info in alphabetical order of the company)

Martin

Mormon S wrote:I'm actually working on a project that will be "phonoarchive.com" in the future that focusses on all phonograph companies. It's a one man project, but of course I will be getting help from the forum to collect info, models, etc. The website will have a "submit" feature where you can submit you're "off brand" phonograph as long as it fits the criteria.

Martin

Will your archive be for American machines only, or will the rest of us be able to contribute?

If you need any coordination with RJ Wakeman on this project, let me know and I can link you up with him. He isn't online.

epigramophone wrote:

Mormon S wrote:I'm actually working on a project that will be "phonoarchive.com" in the future that focusses on all phonograph companies. It's a one man project, but of course I will be getting help from the forum to collect info, models, etc. The website will have a "submit" feature where you can submit you're "off brand" phonograph as long as it fits the criteria.

Martin

Will your archive be for American machines only, or will the rest of us be able to contribute?

No, it will not be limited to American phonographs (part of my motive is the fact that non American phonographs arent as well documented), but organization will be tricky with so many variables. The website is in the the "organization construction phase" right now, but I hope to start implementing a ton of stuff during the summer. I will open it when I have enough info on it for it to be useful (but of course that requires $)

Martin

Ps, didnt mean to hijack the thread. I will be making it's own thread in the near future.

I think the topic of off brands is fascinating - via Mr Wakeman's article, I often wonder if there are any survivors of some of the weirder, regional off brands. I own a Steger, of which I don't think there are many survivors in collectors hands.

Ahh! Off-brands, near and dear to our hearts!

Here is a sampling of the off-brands we have actually bought here in the Northwest. Some of these are on R.J.'s list, some of them are not. We do have information compiled on the makers of most of these brands, if there is any interest in reading about a specific one, drop us a line.