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Hi, wasn't sure if this was for the UK or US forum so put it on both ! can anyone give me a date for an Edison Bell Standard, last patent 1889 and serial number 5853 ?
Also, it is missing the gear cover - is this exactly the same as an Edison Standard ?
Many thanks

Hi Gram.

Photos would clear up a lot. If your Standard is a U.S. made Edison machine, it should be pretty easy to date. If it’s one of the later Edison-Bell European-made machines, then I haven’t a clue. 1889 is found on pretty much all of the Edison patent plates. The most recent (or last) patent date will give us a better identifier. With the serial number you gave, I’d expect a date of Jun 20 1893 or May 31 1898. Again a photo of the plate will help a lot. Post a few - we love photos!

Best Regards,

Martin

Your serial number is a fairly early phonograph. It may be 1899 or 1900. The earlier standard suitcases did not have a gear cover. Look at where it should be and there should be no drill holes. They were exported to the UK.

Thanks, I'll post photos tonight !

Here we go... There are holes in the bedplate for a gear cover but no signs in the dirt that there has ever been one fitted ? Does this help with the date of the machine ?
Thanks

Ahh. What you have is one of the later machines that were made in Europe after Edison and Edison-Bell parted ways in (I think) 1902. I don't know much about these but would guess it might be late 1903 or early 1904. I'm sure others will have a better idea. Thanks for the photos!

Martin

At first glance I thought that somebody had put the motor and upper-works of an Edison Model A Standard into an Edison-Bell case. On further consideration I can see several differences: the edges of the base-plate are more bevelled, the patent plate is differently located and, most obviously perhaps, the front of the carrier-arm is supported by a rod instead of Edison's straight-edge. Nonetheless, the Edison-Bell remains a close imitation. The reproducer appears to be a genuine Edison C.

My understanding is that Edison-Bell's authority to sell National Phonograph Company products ended in the spring of 1903 and that Edison-Bell began to manufacture their own machines soon afterwards. I once had a Model A Standard with the push-pin instead of the older lever to raise and lower the reproducer, which still bore an Edison-Bell licence-plate on the case; it must have been one of the very last of its kind.

Oliver Mundy.