The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

What a sad sight. If it just had the horn...or anything!

Garret

At least the key is still there in the lock, not that the cabinet contains anything worth locking up .

The quandry is do you buy it and try to complete it with correct parts that are not easy to find. The 4 spring motor not so difficult but the re-entrant horn may be a few decades away, if ever.

The cabinet is cheap as a starting point for a very expensive complete machine. OK you need to get it transported from Berlin......

And of course it takes up a lot of space.

Whoever did this was a complete idiot. My oh my what a sin.

Every now and then 202 and 203 cabinets show up. I never saw however a 202/203 horn for sale, or even tone arms.

Reacting to Marco's comment as to the poor judgment of repurposing such cabinets, if done in the 30's or 40's it was a sensible action to take: to put to good use an otherwise obsolete and worthless object. If done now, when a 203 is a valuable relic, I would certainly agree that it is idiotic.

Of course anyone will have his own take on this matter, but in my personal opionion a re-use of the cabinet was tolerable only with entry or mid level units, and only up to the '40s.

With top-of-the-line units like a 203 it was and is not tolerable under any circumstance. It was absolutely obvious at any point in time that these were models to be preserved, and had a value in any case and could be passed to other owners at any point in time just asking a reasonable price.

Of course this is my humble opinion; other opinions may vary.

My goodness what a shame, I can't believe they did that!

Marco Gilardetti wrote:Whoever did this was a complete idiot. My oh my what a sin.

I agree, but until relatively recently they just weren't valued in any shape or form. They were considered obsolete and ideal for using as a cocktail cabinet or to house a tv. Thankfully this is not how they have been viewed for some time now and many examples survive in varying levels of condition.

One thing I was wondering with this one was whether that inlaid (?) pattern on each door was original or added later. I've never seen a 203 with that before.

Marco Gilardetti wrote:Of course anyone will have his own take on this matter, but in my personal opionion a re-use of the cabinet was tolerable only with entry or mid level units, and only up to the '40s.

With top-of-the-line units like a 203 it was and is not tolerable under any circumstance. It was absolutely obvious at any point in time that these were models to be preserved, and had a value in any case and could be passed to other owners at any point in time just asking a reasonable price.

I was a teenager in the 1960s, when acoustic gramophones were, as others have pointed out, considered by most people to be of no value. I personally had many portables donated given free of charge, an HMV 130, bought at the very end of a jumble sale for a shilling (5p), because no-one wanted it, an oak HMV 163, gladly given by a neighbour who was about to burn it, and believe it or not, an EMG from the local school when it was replaced by an electric record player. My mother took one look at the EMG and immediately banished to the shed, where she used to drape wet washing over the horn to dry, with the inevitable result. The entire machine was eventually carted off to the local rubbish tip, with no regrets. The two HMVs were both broken up, the case of the 163 being turned into a cupboard for my Father's tools. With the exception of the EMG, the loss of the other two machines was unimportant, as there were plenty more of the same still to be had for very little money, or in some cases, nothing at all. Oh, to have them back again, now that I'm older and wiser!

Barry

phonosandradios wrote: One thing I was wondering with this one was whether that inlaid (?) pattern on each door was original or added later. I've never seen a 203 with that before.

Me neither, it looks like an added, hmm, embellishment.

Once they had been rendered obsolete by radiograms, the prices of the HMV202 and 203 were reduced but stocks of unused cabinets remained. Stories persist that these were broken up at the factory, so even the manufacturers did not consider them worthy of preservation.