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Good morning! I am the proud new owner of an Edison Phonograph that I bought at an antique shop for my husband's birthday (I suppose HE is the proud new owner!). I am trying to decipher how to date the specific machine. The serial number is S378335. I had found many 'leads' as to how to calculate the age, but many of the charts seem to be unavailable. Does anyone have any guidance? It is much appreciated!

Post a photo of the machine for more information. Thank you and congratulations!

Are these helpful? I wish I would have taken a photo before purchasing because we disassembled it for travel. If not, I can take better pics once it is gifted and put back together Thank you so much for your reply!

jgood wrote: Tue Feb 20, 2024 8:09 am Good morning! I am the proud new owner of an Edison Phonograph that I bought at an antique shop for my husband's birthday (I suppose HE is the proud new owner!). I am trying to decipher how to date the specific machine. The serial number is S378335. I had found many 'leads' as to how to calculate the age, but many of the charts seem to be unavailable. Does anyone have any guidance? It is much appreciated!

Congratulatilons, and what a lovely gift! I've written a couple of articles on the various common Edison cylinder phonographs; if that's what you have, they may be useful for you. The first, which links to the second, is here: https://www.tnt-audio.com/vintage/ediso ... rs1_e.html

If it's a disc player, of course, despite their fascinating text, those won't be a lot of help!

[edit] This and the photos crossed in the mail. You appear to have an Edison Standard, Model B. That is an extremely common starting point for a phonograph collector; in fact, my own adventure into cylinders started with one, back in the 1970s. They are good, solid, dependable machines. Yours, unless it's removed and not shown in the photos, is missing a cover for the gears; that shouldn't be hard to find and replace and does not affect function. It's for 2-minute cylinders only; have a look at the end of my second article for more details.

Thank you! I am already on my journey to learning all there is to know - I was not aware that a cover was missing, haha! It does work and came with one cylinder. I am meeting with the gentleman this afternoon to pick up a few more. Such a fun hobby!

Since you and your husband are new to this, let me warn you not to pick up the phonograph using the handle on the lid. 120 years can do a lot to weaken the original glue that holds the lid together. Pick it up by the bottom and if anything, use the handle to steady it, but not to bear weight. I usually put one arm under the cabinet, and steady it by holding the handle.

BTW, it's a great and thoughtful wife that buys her husband such a cool gift!

JerryVan wrote: Tue Feb 20, 2024 11:18 am Since you and your husband are new to this, let me warn you not to pick up the phonograph using the handle on the lid. 120 years can do a lot to weaken the original glue that holds the lid together. Pick it up by the bottom and if anything, use the handle to steady it, but not to bear weight. I usually put one arm under the cabinet, and steady it by holding the handle.

BTW, it's a great and thoughtful wife that buys her husband such a cool gift!

I appreciate that advice - and Thank You! I know he will love it!

Your machine (that is, your husband's machine) is an Edison Standard Model B. According to original sales documents, #378335 left the factory in November 1906. Your example is in its original 2-minute configuration, meaning it will play 2-minute records only. When looking for 2-minute records, don't judge them by the boxes in which they're found. These get switched all the time. Look at the records themselves - which is a good idea anyway because moldy records are worthless.

Here are a couple of free articles on the Antique Phonograph Society's website which will help you identify different types of cylinder records and the various models of the Edison Standard.

https://www.antiquephono.org/#/collectiondetails/16

https://www.antiquephono.org/#/collectiondetails/79

There are several other free articles on the APS site which you may find informative and useful.

Have fun with it!

George P.

A great website to buy cylinders is 4-4time.com. A lot of fun to go through their stock!

Here is the part you're missing. It's the guard that goes over the gears on the left side.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/196255502732?i ... R8j63rW5Yw