That's odd, my July 19th post went in but nothing came back. That is why I was sure I had fallen off the electronic phonogram... here is what I posted (again just to see if it goes through): John: Thanks for the Art Wilmoth story. I have heard them all since I lived in San Francisco at the time and was building my collection with wild abandon. Art told of a story about a Mission Street music store that had a large selection of new old stock Edison Diamond Disc Recreations and a huge amount of phonograph parts including Victor reproducers and records from the 1920's. Art was still working through the Great Depression and had money to buy something each week. One day he went in to buy more items and the back of the large shop where there were tons of phonographic treasure was bare. The owner told Art he had taken it all to the dumps off 3rd Street and put it in the bay. Art never got over that. What surprised Art was the prices I was paying for machines. A mahogany Opera I bought for $125 had him saying, "I just don't know where it will stop!" He could not imagine the constant rise in prices. We were the best of friends and I still miss him dearly. Since we both were Edison collectors we would find things for eachother. I found him rare Diamond Discs and he found me rare machines he did not want. What was funny was that we both were striving to get all the Edison domestic models and he would call me because he found a machine that was too expensive for his taste but that I might want it. This was usually something like a Fireside B with Music Master Wood Cygnet Horn for $275. I wish Art were still alive and when I now rarely find something special I find myself reaching for the phone to call him. We always rejoiced in eachothers finds. When the collectors died out of San Francisco so did much of the joy in collecting. At the high point 30 of us would meet for dinner at a bowling alley where Art would arrange the restaurant there to let us have the banquet room. Show and tell was always something. One collector would pop in with a Victor Monarch Special which would be sitting next to an Edison Hardy tinfoil on one side and an M electric Concert (Oratorio) on the other. The Victor guys would tell the Edison guys what they had found and vice versa so each group could go out to the antique stores named and pick up nice machines. I remember telling one collector about a MacDonald AB or something like that. He called me at midnight one evening in an excited state to tell me thanks, the machine had some kind of mechanical amplifier which I forgot to tell him about. My ignorance on Victor and Columbia is astounding! Those were great days. My phone number in San Francisco was dialed E-D-I-S-O-N-8 so I had all kinds of calls constantly to keep me interested as many antique shops shared the number with each other as a source of phonograph and Edison information. Sadly the only machines I rescued from a dumpster was a Victor Othophonic Credenza and a Seeburg jukebox. Both were great trade items. No Edison stuff ever came my way via dumpster. Best Wishes to all on the list and may your finds all be rare ones, Al
************************************** Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL at http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour From [email protected] Mon Jul 23 00:18:53 2007 From: [email protected] (Peter Fraser) Date: Mon Jul 23 00:21:29 2007 Subject: [Phono-L] my July 19th post went into the ether / was resubscribe In-Reply-To: <[email protected]> References: <[email protected]> Message-ID: <[email protected]> such a great story. wish i was there. we're off to boston and NY in a week, for 3 weeks. when i return, i'll invite you and PW over for dinner, ok? it ain't no bowling alley, but... On Jul 23, 2007, at 12:06 AM, [email protected] wrote: > That's odd, my July 19th post went in but nothing came back. That > is why I > was sure I had fallen off the electronic phonogram... here is what > I posted > (again just to see if it goes through): > > > John: > > Thanks for the Art Wilmoth story. I have heard them all since I > lived in San > Francisco at the time and was building my collection with wild > abandon. > > Art told of a story about a Mission Street music store that had a > large > selection of new old stock Edison Diamond Disc Recreations and a > huge amount of > phonograph parts including Victor reproducers and records from the > 1920's. Art > was still working through the Great Depression and had money to buy > something > each week. One day he went in to buy more items and the back of > the large shop > where there were tons of phonographic treasure was bare. The owner > told Art > he had taken it all to the dumps off 3rd Street and put it in the > bay. Art > never got over that. > > What surprised Art was the prices I was paying for machines. A > mahogany > Opera I bought for $125 had him saying, "I just don't know where it > will stop!" > He could not imagine the constant rise in prices. We were the best > of friends > and I still miss him dearly. Since we both were Edison collectors > we would > find things for eachother. I found him rare Diamond Discs and he > found me rare > machines he did not want. What was funny was that we both were > striving to > get all the Edison domestic models and he would call me because he > found a > machine that was too expensive for his taste but that I might want > it. This was > usually something like a Fireside B with Music Master Wood Cygnet > Horn for $275. > I wish Art were still alive and when I now rarely find something > special I > find myself reaching for the phone to call him. We always rejoiced in > eachothers finds. > > When the collectors died out of San Francisco so did much of the > joy in > collecting. At the high point 30 of us would meet for dinner at a > bowling alley > where Art would arrange the restaurant there to let us have the > banquet room. > Show and tell was always something. One collector would pop in > with a Victor > Monarch Special which would be sitting next to an Edison Hardy > tinfoil on one > side and an M electric Concert (Oratorio) on the other. The Victor > guys would > tell the Edison guys what they had found and vice versa so each > group could go > out to the antique stores named and pick up nice machines. I remember > telling one collector about a MacDonald AB or something like that. > He called me at > midnight one evening in an excited state to tell me thanks, the > machine had > some kind of mechanical amplifier which I forgot to tell him > about. My > ignorance on Victor and Columbia is astounding! > > Those were great days. My phone number in San Francisco was dialed > E-D-I-S-O-N-8 so I had all kinds of calls constantly to keep me > interested as many > antique shops shared the number with each other as a source of > phonograph and > Edison information. > > Sadly the only machines I rescued from a dumpster was a Victor > Othophonic > Credenza and a Seeburg jukebox. Both were great trade items. No > Edison stuff > ever came my way via dumpster. > > Best Wishes to all on the list and may your finds all be rare ones, > > Al > > > > > ************************************** Get a sneak peek of the all- > new AOL at > http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour > _______________________________________________ > Phono-L mailing list > http://phono-l.oldcrank.org
