In a message dated 11/2/03 8:48:41 AM Pacific Standard Time, [email protected] writes: (I too have been disappointed by the pitiful displays at the Smithsonian.) -------
As a collector I completely agree that we often do a better job of preservation than museums. Fortunately many museums respect and value collectors for their efforts and knowledge. I also agree that museums do a very poor job when it comes to displaying phonographs. Unfortunately, they're forced to do whatever it takes to attract visitors, and it would seem that phonographs don't generate much interest among the general public (more's the pity). As a result museums like the Smithsonian and Henry Ford, which had phonograph displays in the past (though not exactly wonderful ones) have since converted the space to more "exciting" exhibits. One thing I can say in favor of museums, however, is that in my experience they are unfailingly helpful to researchers. While they don't have even halfway decent public exhibits, the Smithsonian, Ford, and others do go to great lengths to preserve their collections and make them available for serious study. I'd love to see these machines available for viewing by the public, but at least many of them can be seen in books. While most collectors I've dealt with have been helpful in research projects, the centralized collections of museums offer a tremendous concentrated resource. Best regards, Rene Rondeau From loran Sun Nov 2 11:45:44 2003 From: loran (Loran T. Hughes) Date: Sun Dec 24 13:10:24 2006 Subject: [Phono-L] Speaking of interesting items... Message-ID: <1067795144.2357.40.ca...@localhost> Check out this photo going off in a few hours: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3250025017&category=409 In one of the closeup shots, it appears this gent has hooked up an air pressure tank (see the presure gauge?) to his Graphophone. Has he built a home-made Auxeto-Kinetophone? The photo is fantastic... just wish I had the original set-up in my collection (insert evil grin here). Loran
