I am 42 and started collecting at 22. My first machine was a Victrola VI with a broken spring and no needle bar screw. A dear friend of mine had collected machines for some time (since he was 11) and came over to check it out. He gave me the name and address of Karl Frick (I know, I know) from whom I ordered the parts. Being a mechanical type, I took it apart and studied it until I figured out how it worked. I replaced the spring myself, and I was in business! My friend got his first phono at age 11 at an auction in Ohio. It was a Victrola XIV, and an older man was bidding on it, and the man's wife said "Oh, let the kid have it". He got it too. For $11.00! His first cylinder machine was an Edison Fireside A that he begged his dad to buy at a garage sale. For $30.00. He got it. If I sound nostalgic about this it is because my friend, David Chess, passed away at the age of 35, about 11 years ago. He had given me many of the first phonograph books I owned, and many of my first records and I still have several of them and treasure them. How about some stories about our beloved phonograph mentors? John Robles
Eric Boyles <edboy...@alltel.net> wrote: I am 44 now, and tried to collect phonographs when I was in my early 20's. The problem was that my disposable income vs. available phonographs just did not go together. That does not mean that I did not buy a few consoles etc but where do you display or store them at that age!!!! I really believe young people think they are neat because I know my girls and their friends think so. But even in my years of flea markets/auctions, etc in the south you just did not find them without being a fortune. when I found something I wanted, I really did not want to pay that for it. Running across a Standard or Home probably had a pretty healthy price tag even for common machines About 5 years ago with the evolution of the internet , I was able to search, learn and find what I had not been able to discover before. The great books which are out today was only a dream 15 years ago, at least to the isolated collector. A search at the library or bookstore even 5 years ago (I tried) yielded few options. I learned where to find them and that there were other nuts out there like me. Soda or jukeboxes had enough of a following to be broad based where phonographs or early electric fans has a much narrower base. What is needed is exposure to the young people who can recognize that they are cool! The demonstrations that fellow collectors provide today peak the interest of tomorrow's collectors and will continue this hobby. I will admit that my trip to Union in 2000 made me wonder why did we all look like middle aged nerds?? But I think the answer comes back to disposable income. The right exposure provides the interest and disposable income enables the interest to become a reality. Thanks for listening to my rambling...... Eric _______________________________________________ Phono-l mailing list phon...@oldcrank.com http://t2.cwihosting.com/mailman/listinfo/phono-l_oldcrank.com From edboyles Fri Feb 20 18:01:41 2004 From: edboyles (Eric Boyles) Date: Sun Dec 24 13:10:32 2006 Subject: [Phono-L] Favorite Finds - $75 Berliner continued...... Message-ID: <40369fe4.7080...@alltel.net> While the $75 Berliner find was pretty straight forward it was really anything but. It was Sunday afternoon and as I was passing past my laptop I stopped by just to check new listings on Ebay. I scrolled down through an hour of new listings and there it was. Wow! My heart paced while I went through the Bid process knowing that it would be sold before my bid was entered as a Buy It Now. Not sure how a heart attack feels but I was pushing the limit. Next my heart raced as I indeed had won the auction. Would someone email behind me and offer a cash offer the seller couldn't refuse??? I fired off an email to the seller and waited.......and waited..... trying to find payment info and how much for shipping. Sometime that evening, I finally got a response back with an estimated shipping amount and told him I would FedEx the payment to him and he would have it Tuesday. I did not sleep that night wondering if someone would make an offer he couldn't refuse. By morning, I was determined to find out to expedite the transaction even more. I looked up his address and tried to determine who I knew close enough that would be willing to pay for the phono and pick it up. I was also worried that he would not provide proper packaging for a desirable machine and certainly even $200 insurance was not enough.By now I am a nervous wreck! As it turns out we had a company salesman about 70 miles away in the same state (New Jersey). After a call to the salesman he agreed that he could leave and make the journey. Now how to get in touch with seller. I emailed him and then began to doa search on the net for his phone number. No luck. I searched via his name and found a slew of them in a 30 minute radius of the zip code. Well at least I thought, if I can't find him at least no one else can. I then decided to call phone information in his small NJ town and ask if perhaps it was a listing. When I called information, they did not have his name as a resident but did list his name under the business listings so I figured that had to be it. When the operator gave me the name of the business it was David Wells Antiques. What! An antique dealer? Surely not. I called the number but no answer. They were not open for business yet. Patiently I waited another hour or so and called back. I got an answer, but the owner was not in and his assistant had opened the shop. More waiting............ Several hours later the seller called. He agreed to take my CC at the shop and and was OK with a personal pickup as long as the person showed ID based on the name provided. The seller indicated he had received offers to purchase following my win but had declined to return their email because it was not ethical (good for him!). I asked why did he sell this item on Ebay as a $75 BIN. He explained that he is surrounded by retirement communities and seniors steadily beat a path to his door. His specialty is glassware and silver. He then indicated that a woman stopped by who has sold him items before and asked him to meet her at some storage lockers of her parents estate. He indicated that rarely would he ever drive 75 miles for his merchandise in NJ but his curiosity got the best of him. He went only to find junk that he really did not mess with. He bought enough items to warrant his trip and returned to the shop. The rest is history as the Berliner went on Ebay. But the story continues. My friend picked up the phono, had it professionally packed and was in my possession the next day via FedEX. Less than 48 hours after the auction closed it was in my hands. The story continued when two days later the seller emails and indicated the owner had dropped off a box of old records that went with the phono. Did I want them?????????? What can I say????? Would you believe he did not want any more money as he was not wanting to get rich off of this deal (his exact words) and I insisted that with my favorable purchase on the machine that he at least accept a $100 storage fee until my friend could come back at his convienence to pick up the records. Reluctantly he agreed. Twenty-nine 7" one sided with most 1896-1898 with 25 of them in pretty nice shape. I also was later able to find out from the estate that the original owners name was Turner from South Carolina. He was a career Navy officer and had traveled the world, and apparently always taking his Berliner (???) Either that, or always properly stored. He retired in NJ and ultimately passed on. I feel fortunate and humbled to experience this in 2004. Any regrets????? Only that I had always wanted to find a $100 Opera............................ Happy Collecting.... Eric.
