Mysterious Edison Phonograph

[Zenger]

For a summer project I've been going through some of my machines in storage and have come across a few that have puzzled me ever since I found them. This one appears, at first glance, to be an Edison Class M, but it has a crank, and a factory-cut crank hole with escutcheon. Inside it appears to be an early home (can anyone tell me when this would have left the factory, based upon the serial number?) with a reproducer that is kind of an oddball. (I can't tell if it's an automatic or a loudspeaker, and what's with the strings? And why doesn't the wing tab say "reproducer"?) The crank isn't black and has no badge, and there's a crank mount (I think?) on the back the likes of which I have never seen. And, of course, there's no decal on the lid.

Can anyone tell me anything about this machine? Theories welcome, too.

(Oh, and I have the latches, too.)

Thanks!

[ChuckA]

You got a suitcase Home, someone installed a pull out drawer similar to a Spring Motor
Crank appears to be made up.
Reproducer looks like an automatic missing a few parts.
Love the pipe fitting crane mount on the rear...

Chuck

[phonogfp]

What Chuck said.

That Home left the factory in October 1899.

George P.

[Zenger]

Thanks! Curious that someone would have gone to that kind of trouble just to have a drawer; it looks like they knew what they were doing, though.

Did Homes not have lid decals at this point? And does the crank look like a repro?

[JerryVan]

Did Homes not have lid decals at this point? And does the crank look like a repro?

The cabinet has been refinished and the decal most likely lost during that process.

To say that the crank is a reproduction is a stretch. I'd call it "homemade".

[Zenger]

Not sure why I never looked inside the lid all these years, but I just did, and saw this.

[Inigo]

And you've found a crane inside? That's luck!