Frightening!
Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2012 9:22 am
Actually, you killed it.I own a midcentury store in the Seattle area and when I saw this piece, probably from the early 1920s, it yelled to me to "liven it up"!
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Frightening!
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Re: Frightening!
Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2012 9:44 am
Re: Frightening!
Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2012 10:22 am
If Austin Powers made gramophones, they would look like that!
I do not know if that is a common machine over there or not, and none of us can know what it looked like before this make over. For very common and/or very trashed machines, I have some sympathy with people ignoring originality and creating something "new".
There are several such machines for sale on UK eBay with, for example, the covering replaced by a montage of record sleeves or even photos of Marilyn Monroe. These machines seem to be difficult to sell. Maybe one person's "makeover" is another persons calamity, even if they don't care about the original machine. Taste is a personal thing, and maybe the only person who likes machines such as these is the makeover artist.
Anyone doing this to something rare and/or well preserved should be ashamed. They will certainly be penalised financially.
At least most people have stopped converting gramophones into drinks cabinets or hi-fi racks.
I do not know if that is a common machine over there or not, and none of us can know what it looked like before this make over. For very common and/or very trashed machines, I have some sympathy with people ignoring originality and creating something "new".
There are several such machines for sale on UK eBay with, for example, the covering replaced by a montage of record sleeves or even photos of Marilyn Monroe. These machines seem to be difficult to sell. Maybe one person's "makeover" is another persons calamity, even if they don't care about the original machine. Taste is a personal thing, and maybe the only person who likes machines such as these is the makeover artist.
Anyone doing this to something rare and/or well preserved should be ashamed. They will certainly be penalised financially.
At least most people have stopped converting gramophones into drinks cabinets or hi-fi racks.
Re: Frightening!
Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2012 10:50 am
Don't find anything significant on the web about HarpTone or the Seattle Phonograph Company, so I rather suspect they many not have been in business very long and it may possibly be a fairly rare machine, albeit not necessarily valuable other than as a piece of Seattle history.
In any event it is bizarre that someone in the antique business--even "mid-century"--would not know that they likely destroyed 80% of the value. And even for somebody somewhere out there who might find such a thing "fun" or "artistic," the repaint is extremely poor quality. Highest and best use is now probably fire wood.
Clay
In any event it is bizarre that someone in the antique business--even "mid-century"--would not know that they likely destroyed 80% of the value. And even for somebody somewhere out there who might find such a thing "fun" or "artistic," the repaint is extremely poor quality. Highest and best use is now probably fire wood.
Clay
Re: Frightening!
Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2012 11:08 am
I just think it is funny how everyone wants all the money no matter how beat up or modified it is.
Re: Frightening!
Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2012 10:21 pm
This evokes my favorite line by Witch Hazel in Broomstick Bunny: "Like it?!? Why, it's absolutely hid-e-ous!!!" 
Re: Frightening!
Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 10:08 am
Apart from the environmental impact, it's not a good idea to burn painted wood, especially if you've got an expensive flue liner. I think he's ruined the firewood potential.FloridaClay wrote:Highest and best use is now probably fire wood.
Clay