Last year for a friend's 80th Birthday, I took a Columbia BN Graphophone
equipped with a Viva-Tonal soundbox to the
private dining room of the restaurant where the party took place. Played
circa 1928 dance band records to an enthusiastic
audience but had to stuff napkins down the nine-panel nickel plated horn to
moderate the volume even with soft tone needles!
Jim Cartwright
Immortal Performances
[email protected]
> [Original Message]
> From: Ken and Brenda Brekke <[email protected]>
> To: Antique Phonograph List <[email protected]>
> Date: 21-May-2009 9:20:33 PM
> Subject: [Phono-L] Phonograph appreciation
>
> The previous email threads regarding the public appreciating phonographs
> reminds me of one of my experiences. I have taken some of my phonographs
to
> nursing homes and played records for everyone there. The first time I
went,
> there were only a few that showed up. On all the subsequent visits, the
> activity room was filled. There was one particular lady that I will never
> forget. She was always by herself on the side of all the activity. She
> didn't associate with anyone. I asked one of the aides about her. The
aide
> said "Oh, that's Georgia. She is usually pretty mean to everyone." I
took
> that statement as a challenge. I used a cart and took my Concert Roller
> Organ over to her. I put my arm on her shoulder and asked if she wanted
to
> play it. She looked up to me and in a very gruff and defiant voice said
> "YES!" She needed to use both hands to crank it but she played the whole
> cobb. When it ended she looked up at me again and had a huge smile on her
> face and said "Thank you very much!" It still brings a little tear to my
> eyes yet today. After that visit, Georgia always came up to me and
> requested to play either a phonograph or the Roller Organ. Many of the
> residents would dig through my boxes of records I brought. The look on
> their faces when they found a particular record that brought back memories
> from their younger days was priceless. They would eagerly play the record
> and talk about what it meant to them. I never needed to explain to them
how
> to play the phonographs. It has been a while since I have visited a
nursing
> home with some phonographs. It is something I miss doing and should start
> again. You can be sure that everyone there appreciates phonographs. More
> recently, I have started something similar with our Model A Ford club. We
> have put on mini car shows at nursing homes and give the residents rides.
> The appreciation of these events is also great.
>
> Ken Brekke
>
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