Featured Phonograph № 8

[schweg]

Make: Puck
Model: Mermaid
Serial # N/A
Years: 1900-1914
Original Cost: Free?
Case/Cabinet Size: Cast iron base
Turntable/Mandrel: 4"
Soundbox: floating reproducer
Motor: open spring
Horn Dimensions: 11" aluminum
Repro Parts: reproducer
Current Value:
Interesting Facts: Neat mermaid base- not for playing your valuable cylinders!









Steve

[MordEth]

Steve,

Thanks for featuring this phonograph—I’ve liked it since the first photograph that you’d shown me of it previously, as I don’t think that I’ve seen a smaller machine that was this decorative.

How loud is it, with that horn?

— MordEth

[Valecnik]

Neat little machine. Unlike with many of them, the horn is in pretty good condition. Thanks for posting.

[Starkton]

Yours is a "Syrena-Puck", manufactured by Fritz Puppel, well known for "mass fabrication" and "precision work" see below. The "Syrena-Puck" was marketed since October 1905.
The flower horn was applied a little later. Therefore, I would guess a manufacturing date of your pretty machine from 1906 to c. 1908.

[schweg]

Thanks for the great information and the advertisement.

[MordEth]

Starkton,

Thanks for sharing the advertisement. Certainly, you always seem to have some very useful and pertinent information on hand.

I made an attempt at pulling the text from the advert and translating it, although someone with a better command of German may want to correct the translation. I mostly rely on Google’s language tools for that.

German advertising copy:

Fritz Puppel, Berlin S.O.,

35|36 Bouché-Strasse 35|36.

Plattenmaschinen- und Phonographen-Fabrik.

Billigste Bezugsquelle für Wiederverkäufer u.Exporteure.

NEUHEIT!

Massen-fabrikation!

Präcisions-arbeit!

NEUHEIT!

„Syrena-Puck“, D.R.G.M.

Translated copy:

Fritz Puppel, South East² Berlin,

35|36 Bouché¹ Street 35|36.

Disc machine and phonograph factory.

The cheapest source of supply for retailers and exporters.

NEW!

Mass production!

Precision work!

NEW!

"Syrena-Puck", German Reich utility patent²

[hr][/hr]
¹ From an online French dictionary: bouché Adjective (a) blocked pipe, nose; stoppered jar; j'ai le nez ~ I've got a blocked nose, my nose is blocked (up); j'ai les oreilles bouchées my ears are blocked (up)
(b) overcast sky, weather
(c) (Infml: of person) thick, dense; il a l'esprit un peu ~ he's as thick as two short planks (Infml), he's got one brick short of a full load (Infml, humorous); ~ à l'émeri wood from the neck up (Infml, humorous), thick as a brick (Infml), a complete moron (Slang), one brick short of a full load (Infml, humorous)
(d) (Music) muted trumpet
(e) oversubscribed sector; futureless career, subject with no future
(f) cidre ~ bottled cider

The street may also have been named after Carl David Bouché (1809-1881) who was a German botanist and gardener. He served as Inspector (technical director) of the Royal Botanic Garden in Berlin from 1843 to 1881.

Before reading the Wikipedia article on C.D. Bouché, I had wondered if perhaps that advertisement wasn’t from Belgium or another country where both French and German were spoken.

By the way, congratulations on the first machine to fall under the ‘Miscellaneous’ category.

— MordEth

[hr][/hr]
² Corrections courtesy of Starkton (see this post).

[Edisonfan]

Hey Steve, nice machine. I have seen one pop up on ebay, a while back, but it went for a lot of money. I can not remember how much though? Thank you for doing No.8.

Hey David, looks like you'll need to add another catagory, to the archives.


Paul

[MordEth]

Hey David, looks like you'll need to add another category to the archives.

Paul,

I think that you missed my earlier comment at the bottom of my translation attempts:

By the way, congratulations on the first machine to fall under the ‘Miscellaneous’ category.

I’m curious if the Google translation of ‘S.O.’ as ‘see above’ is correct (I’m guessing it might not be) and hopefully one of our German members can explain the ‘D.R.G.M.’ acronym.

Does anyone have an idea of approximately how many of these machines were made?

— MordEth

[Starkton]

I’m curious if the Google translation of ‘S.O.’ as ‘see above’ is correct (I’m guessing it might not be) and hopefully one of our German members can explain the ‘D.R.G.M.’ acronym.

Does anyone have an idea of approximately how many of these machines were made?

"S.O." means "Süd Ost" (translated "South-East")
D.R.G.M. means "Deutsches Reich Gebrauchs Muster" (German Reich utility patent)
Tens of thousands were made, for sure.

[MordEth]

Starkton,

Thanks for the additional information on my translation attempt. I updated that post with the information you provided and linked to your comments on it.

— MordEth