The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

This has been on facebook marketplace for awhile now. I am not particularly interested in it... but I still can't figure out what it is . He has it listed at a Pathé... but I don't think it is a Pathé. What do you think it is? These are the only two pictures.

Also it seems as if the legs were cut off? and now it sits on that stand?

David

I don’t know what it is, but I think that it is missing it’s legs.

What was/is this phonograph? Answer: A piece of messed up junk...

Looks like it could be what's left of a Pathephonic phonograph, which was a short-lived attempt to compete with Victor's Orthophonic line. It seems that during the later 1920s, the US market was up to its neck in "phonics"--Ortrthophonic, Melophonic, True-Phonic, etc..

There are a few posts about the Pathephonic on this forum --

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=12662
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2945

...and a video clip of Pathé's answer to the Credenza -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3mI30ngttQ (From viewtopic.php?f=2&t=8386 )

OF

It seems that cutting the legs off was a common thing. I wonder why? Maybe they were ugly

David

dzavracky wrote:It seems that cutting the legs off was a common thing. I wonder why? Maybe they were ugly

David

Typically, machines with amputated legs and bottoms were in floods that caused the glue joints to fail and/or veneer to lift.