The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I just picked up a Pooley cabinet today. I am trying to find out if the finish is original or if it was done by someone else over the years. It looks nice and I like the dark color, but have never seen this finish on a Pooley before. Does anyone know if I can use the serial number to track the original finish?

I was pretty excited when I picked it up and found that it came with 125 records that the original owner had. They all have little numbers on them that came with the cabinet depicting which slot they belong to. The original owner wrote all the titles with their accompanying numbers in a small book that can be seen in the bottom of the cabinet. It included his full name and address. So I am going to try to do some research and digging to find out where the phonograph went that was originally kept with this cabinet. I love finding a phonograph or cabinet that has some history or a story with it. Here are some pictures:

Nice find Sonny! Even the records are organized, sweet deal!

Is that the one from Ebay that I was asking about, oh, probably a week or so ago here on the forum?

This listing? eBay Item #370428614471

If so, had it not been so far away, I was seriously considering bidding on it. I'm glad somebody here got it (if it is the same one).

Yup, it's the same one! I put a bid with little hopes of winning. But when it ended I was pleasantly surprised and made the trip today to pick it up. I cleaned it up and am thrilled. All of the records are in excellent condition and there are some great titles. I would love to know if the finish is original or if it has been redone at some point.

Well, I just started delving into researching the Pooley cabinet. I have the address of the original owner. I just found his home using Google Earth. It's just the start, but is neat picturing him bringing it home and where it may have been sitting back then.

Sonny,
If you assume that the decal with serial number is placed on during final assembly at the factory, then by using the "Law of Superposition", you can come to the conclusion that the decal with serial number came before the dark stain blotches which cover it. My guess if you subtract the dark stain blotches off the finish, you will be close to the original finish. Hope this makes sense.

Steve

Andersun wrote:Sonny,
If you assume that the decal with serial number is placed on during final assembly at the factory, then by using the "Law of Superposition", you can come to the conclusion that the decal with serial number came before the dark stain blotches which cover it. My guess if you subtract the dark stain blotches off the finish, you will be close to the original finish. Hope this makes sense.

Steve

I concur, it looks like someone worked around the decal with varnish. That's usually a sign
of some monkey business. If you are lucky, maybe there is a small area they missed where you
can gauge the original finish.

Sonny, A very nice find and nice to have all that historical reference.

You can really see a bit into someone's life when you see what he/she was listing to at that time. Obviously the original owner was a good bit more organized than I am too...

You’ve found a priceless gem. It could go down to museum so that teenagers nowadays could appreciate what we call music back in time. With the enormous influence of MP4, iPad and other music gadgets, youngsters are now deprived of how sweet it is to play music back then.