The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Yesterday, I received my copy of "Antique Phonograph Accessories & Contraptions" By Timothy C. Fabrizio and George F Paul. Bought through Barnes and Noble.com.


Hey George, this is a really cool book you and Tim put together. Thank You!

Paul

I totally agree. George & Tim's books are all excellent, well worth the money.

I believe all the books are available through George. When possible, let's send the business his direction.

I agree that these books are well worth the money. I received a copy of Phonographs with Flair a couple days ago. It has some amazing photos in it and I encourage anyone who doesn't have a copy to go ahead and buy one.

There's a check in the mail to each of you!

Seriously, thanks to everyone for the kind testimonials (and to Jerry for his shopping suggestion!). Between the captions and the photos, there are literally thousands upon thousands of points of information in the books. I've found myself checking things I find on eBay or even locally with photos in our books to be sure they're "right." (On occasion, I've discovered the opposite!) It's almost like having the world's greatest phonograph collection at your disposal - - and it's especially useful when you run across some gadget that almost seems phono-related, and then you remember: "Hey! I saw that in one of those books!"

I'm sincerely happy to hear the books are serving collectors well. I hope they will continue to do so for many, many years to come. Thanks again for the nice feedback.

Best to all,

George P.

It is such a blessing to have these books at the disposal of the collecting community. I'm sure there are a few of us on the board who remember when there were only two or three rather inaccurate books on the subject plus Jim Walsh and Aida Favia Artsay's (Ruth Rosenberg) columns in Hobbies Magazine. The copy of 'From Tinfoil To Stereo' had already been stolen from the Louisville Library by the time I began collecting, but an old antiques dealer on Market Street who specialized in clocks, watches, phonographs, and music boxes named Henry Sexton kept a first-edition copy behind his desk. As a teenager, I would stand for hours in his shop reading that book. George and Tim have really opened the floodgates for modern collectors.

I'm having this vision of George & Tim sitting on top of the pile counting their "Millions" from the book sales......Right!!!! .I can hear one of them saying......"one for you,two for me!!!" .The books are the best to say the least.

I'll be selling an historical phono book that was the phono bible for first generation collectors. It's a first edition of "Tinfoil to Stereo" in the dust cover. In spite of many errors, it was all we had for many years. I remember how excited I was to receive my first copy. I thought I'd try it in the silent auction at CAPS. Jerry Blais

When I was growing up the only phonograph reference in the local library was "The Fabulous Phonograph". Useful but very Victor-Centric.

estott wrote:When I was growing up the only phonograph reference in the local library was "The Fabulous Phonograph". Useful but very Victor-Centric.

My uncle was a retired Army officer and my aunt would always take me to Fort Knox with her to shop at the Commisary and the PX. She was a reading teacher (I owe her a lot!), so a trip to the post would always include a stop at the library. That library had a mint-condition, first edition copy of Roland Gellat's 'The Fabulous Phonograph'. I was the only one who had ever checked it out and I checked it out repeatedly (mind you, this is when I was 10 or 12 years old). One week they had a big book sale and the librarian handed me the book from behind the counter and told me it was a quarter, and that she had saved it for me. I still have it -- plastic library jacket and all -- 41 years later! I love the description in that book of all hands at the Berliner Gramophone factory working round the clock to get all the Gramophones out that the growing company had received orders for before Chistmas of 1899. Victor-centric, a bit yes, but a much more human and warm telling than FTFTS.