The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Attached are photos of what appears to be an original flared conical horn. I’ve owned a few original flared 15” horns in the past, some that came along with period mid 1890’s machines (see my avatar) which you could say were intact original outfits, however I’ve never run across a short version like this, BUT, I know I’ve seen this somewhere, and I think it was a North American Phonograph Co. catalog.

I just picked the horn up out of state and am still traveling with no access to a ruler, but it I would estimate it to be only 13.” The horn is light and has all of the period details that ought to be there: crimp in the flare, familiar 1890’s soldering. Some doofus put a spray coat of black paint on the horn however this was probably to cover the scratched original lacquer finish which is evident beneath the thin spray layer. The rim of the flare even has a hint of the original gilt paint if you look at the top of the rolled edge, where the hasty bib overalls spray job missed.

The throat of the horn has an interesting feature: a soldered band with a leather insert that looks ancient. The band shows original paint beneath the black spray job as well. I believe the leather is as old as the horn.

Any thoughts out there?

-Jake

It's hard to tell from the pictures, but I wonder if this horn is from a disc machine, such as an Emerson. The leather insert argues against being for a cylinder machine, and the end doesn't look like a cylinder horn. Other than that, it sure looks like an 1890s horn.

Any sign of de-soldering on the body where some extra metal bits might have been?

George P.

It looks similar to the horn for a kit phonograph out of Japan, currently listed on eBay:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/GAKKEN-mook-ot ... 0008.m2219

It looks incredibly similar to the horn in your profile pic...

I'm pretty sure from the looks of it that it is a horn that was used on a small premium give away machine from around the 1910 era. There was a tin elbow soldered onto the end of the horn. This one appears to be missing part of it. The machine was hand wound without a motor and had a simple lead reproducer. George Paul should have the info on this one. I've had numerous examples of this horn over the years. They look to be earlier that they truly are.