The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I was speaking with another member of the forum about Dance & Edisonic reproducers by email and sent him these by email. Since I've just newly scanned them I thought I'd share them.

A few things I found interesting.

- Some of the comments re. the Dance reproducer, "Eager young feet just rarin to go!" "Let joy be unconfined!" (no date)
- Price of the Edisonic is $19.50 but if you trade in your old reproducer you get a $12.75 credit! Your price as an Edison owner only $6.75! (April 28)
- In the brocure picturing the Edisonic machines, no mention of the numbers 52090-52115 being electrically recorded. Were they still acoustic? (October 27)

They're all great pamphlets, & I've never seen any of those before- only ever seen single ads that appeared in magazines & newspapers.
I still think if Edison had jumped on the electrical recording bandwagon a little earlier, & combined the technology used in these dance & edisonic reproducers with a large Western Electric style exponential horn, he could have produced a machine that would have blown our Victor Ortho's/HMV re-entrant's & EMG's out of the water.

As a "paper nut" I find these fabulous. I've never seen the second brochure before and it's great. According to Ray Wile's Edison Disc Recordings all those 52000 sides listed are in fact electrical: virtually the earliest electricals in fact, although in terms of the matrix numbers they are still in the old system . Edison started the new 18000 matrix series specifically for the electrical recordings I believe.( the first disc using the new series was 52139 Harry Reser Clock and the Banjo) They never mentioned " electrical" recording in terms of the Diamond Discs, I suspect, because they'd spent so much time asserting that the Edison method was perfect that it would be hard to back down and say, " Okay so it wasn't that perfect"
But in fact Victor did the same thing on the introduction of the Orthophonic Victrola in the States: the dealers demonstrated it with the new electrical sides without ever mentioning the word " microphone." Up here in Canada the dealers " told all" about the new system starting in June but that's another story.


Jim

I find the logic of the second one interesting.

$19.50 Price of New Edisonic Reproducer
$12.75 Discount "as an Edison owner" for return of your old reproducer
$06.75 Net price to "Edison owners"

Well who on earth EXCEPT an Edison owner would buy one of these separately???

" It brings your Edison up-to-date ! "



Too bad we couldn't count on the music to do the same...

De Soto Frank wrote:" It brings your Edison up-to-date ! "



Too bad we couldn't count on the music to do the same...

Frank on this point I must disagree to some extent. By the time that these reproducers came out there were some pretty snappy numbers coming out on Edison disc and up to 4 ¾ minutes long, almost double the competitor's length.

But it was "too-little, too late..."

It's a shame that Old Tom kept a death-grip on what got recorded for so long.


That's my biggest disappointment with the Diamond Disc system; it's a really neat, well-made machine, and it's a decent performer...

But it's kind of like having an antique AM radio here in [most of ] the US: it may be a beautiful machine and work wonderfully, but there's nothing to listen to ( of quality )...

I remember being all excited when a found a clean DD with the label: "Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Shean"... I love their act on Victor 10". Imagine my disappointment / frustration when I got it home, put it on my S-19 and listened to four minutes of Jazz band repeating the same 32 bars and NO VOCALS ! ( No wonder it had almost no playing/ handling wear !!!!)

Sorry if I'm being too hard on Edison DD here... but one can only take so many solo banjo renditions of "Poet & Peasant Overture"... or Will Oakland screeching away...

Now, if anyone cares to suggest some artists / individual DD's that might change my mind, I'm willing to be enlightened.... PM's are fine.

Frank,

It could be we just have different tastes and I would agree about it being too little too late but here are a few you might like:
Georgia Melodians ~ 1924 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuvZ6rLiGMQ
Original Memphis 5 ~1921? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ng27gI8MU6Q
Golden Gate Orch ~ 1925 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nB_jUPaxfM
Broadway Dance Orch. ~1920 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEnQOPFLaac
California Ramblers 1929 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mf3xzwgRiN4
Harry Raderman's Jazz orch. ~ 1920 (etched disc) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaOi6dTQ6TA
Green Bros. Orch ~1920 (etched disc) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQV7C2CYFVg
Elizabeth Spencer ~ 1920 (Silent Night)Had to throw this in given it's Christmas http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYWzhw2OC0k

Merry Christmas...

Thanks Valecnik... you given some hope to my languishing Edison soul !


Those youtube links did reveal some spirited renditions, indeed !


Hopefully I'll find some electrical DD's sometime...


Merry Christmas to you too !

Frank

(And some more bouncing-around on youtube revealed to me that Edison was not the only label to offer an instrumental Gallagher & Shean record... though the original Victor disc with G & S themselves remains my favorite version.)

Thanks Frank,

It's nice to give someone hope at Christmas!

I just wanted to point out that all of those discs I posted links to are acoustic except for the California Ramblers!

Cheers!