The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Hi All,
In 2011 I inherited an Edisonic Beethoven Phonograph. I know very little about the history of this machine other than my mother inherited it from her grandparents in 1973. I've been looking online for information about this machine for a few years. What I do find has been somewhat limited and a little outdated. Most info dates between 2004-2010. I'm wanting to see if anyone can direct me to webpage with history or anyone with knowledge on this beauty. I'd love to find out the year it might have been made, value, cost of insuring it, how many are still in existence, rarity or common, how and what to use to clean/polish it properly and any other helpful stuff.
It still works perfectly! It has all original parts (I dust the inside but have never re-lubricated springs or anything) and it still has all original manuals (even though the illustrations are for the Schubert) that came with the machine. The only thing I have had to fix on it is the door pulls. The original screws (which I still have) no longer held the door pulls securely so I replaced with new screws. Yikes
My son is now embarking on a school assignment to research the Beethoven and anything you can offer would be great! I look forward to your responses. I've attached a few photos but can provide more if needed.
Thank you for any help,
Amanda

I would suggest you start by searching this board for both "Edison Beethoven" and "Edisonic Beethoven". One of our members was doing a sort of census of these and you'll find info there. You can also search the board for other topics such as how to clean this and maintain it properly.

The definitive book on these is "The Edison Disc Phonographs and the Diamond Discs" by George Frow, published by Mulholland Press. There are unfortunately only 2 or 3 pages about the Edisonic models in the book.

Good luck with your project!

That sounds like a great way to start. Thank you for the suggestion. I appreciate the help

Please also consider scanning and uploading your documentation to the board. I'm sure many of us would like to see them.

Did you also inherit an Edison radio? The "Light-o-matic" brochure would have been for one of those, not your phonograph.

What a beautiful survivor. I have been restoring a "basket case" I rescued for the last two years. I am hoping to have it ready for this years phonograph show in Union, IL.

Welcome to the forum. Here is a post from 2016 that might interest you. viewtopic.php?f=9&t=25286 Yours looks like a very nice example.

Welcome to the forum, and congratulations on owning a fine Edison Disc Phonograph.

Check out our Archives section for 2 separate database projects in regard to the Edisonic along with other great topics.

If you would take the time to submit your Edisonic's information in either (preferably both) of the 2 research questionnaires, I would be grateful.

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=28941

Best,
Fran

You have an excellent Beethoven with just a few scratches, which can be easily corrected without having to refinish. you asked when was it made. They were manufactured between 1927-29. With a serial number of 2000, I would guess that your Beethoven was made about 1928. My Beethoven has a serial number of 1200 and I think it was made in 1927. Looking at the database of Schuberts and Beethovens viewtopic.php?f=2&t=16654&start=240, scroll to the bottom to see an index of serial numbers. you see that no Edisonic has a serial number under 1000, so I assume that Edison started the numbering at 1000. And no Beethoven Edisonic has a serial number higher than 3000. So I intrepret this to mean that less than 2000 Beethovens were made. You can also see that Schuberts outnumber Beethovens by about 3 to 1. That's understandable as Beethovens cost about $90 more.