> [email protected] writes: > > "Wouldn't it be fun" if each month Phono Friends of the groups picked > a > topic for discussion...
Great idea! What should it be this month? How about something that there just isn't a wealth of published information about -- Zonophones. I'd love to get some opinions, if possible, on the following: About two years ago, I was the very fortunate recipient of a nicely preserved (and with provenance) Zonophone Grand Opera (no, not the one with the glass side panels -- I wish, but not complaining, mind you). This machine seems to be (I would guess) early in Victor's ownership of the marque. It has no Victor-like features, the classic deeply embossed top plate with stylized symmetrical floral patterns, ZON-O-PHONE, Universal Talking Machine Mfg Co (also engraved in the reproducer), etc. It has the Universal decal on the side of the case just under the crank, Grand Opera stencil on the front panel, external stop, large flat speed knob, and S-shaped crank. The cabinet is also pure Zonophone, with the finely turned corner posts, etc. The motor is clearly Zonophone, and owes nothing to Victor, having the oversized single spring vertical barrel, flat-sided pair of governor weights and so on. What makes me think it's after Victor's acquisition of Zonophone is that it's a rear mount machine with an 11-panel all-brass horn. I tend to think of the panel horns as being introduced around 1904 or 1905, and the published histories of Zonophone seem to put Victor's acquisition of the company a year or two prior to that. I'd love to tap into the Phonolist's knowledge base to learn more about this machine and it's relationship to the Victor buyout dates and paneled horn introduction dates. The horn, although panel, retains the classic Zonophone all-brass construction (including the elbow), and fits perfectly into the back support. This plus the documented history (going back only to about 1930) shows that this horn was with this machine at least as far back as that. It occurred to me that it could be an earlier machine, made just prior to the Victor buy-out, originally equipped with the more conventional belled brass horn, and then changed to a panel horn when it was a couple of years old, but it seems unlikely that Victor would have gone to the trouble to make an all brass panel horn to update the old Zonophones. Any thoughts on any of the content of this inquiry would be most sincerely appreciated. Andy Baron Santa Fe, NM
