All of these tales of broken deals takes me back to 1964 when a local
phonograph dealer had about 80% of an Edison M electric in pieces in a wooden
box. I had made a list of all the missing parts and had even gone to the
trouble of making them by copying them precisely measured from an original
machine in the Ward Harris Collection. I hounded the dealer for almost a year
when he finally called me and asked for an offer. I told him I would pay him
the then fantastic sum of $600 and he jumped at the deal. This was on a
Wednesday evening and I told him I would be over on Saturday with crisp new
bills in payment. Remember this was when a Standard or Home was $25. Upon
arriving on Saturday he informed me he had traded the box of M parts for a
Victor II from a guy over in the Sacramento area. I asked him why he hadn't
honored our agreement and he gave a lame answer that, "I didn't think you were
serious." I never dealt with him again. The rest of the local collectors
community also eventually grew tired of him. Even his wife finally left him.
Fast forward to 2008 and that box of parts plus 40+ years of added rust
came my way for $200... As for the Victor II it also came to me in the mid
1980s via a roundabout series of trades between local collectors...
The moral of the story is to trust karma to deliver to he who waits and
lives long enough! ! !
Regards to all,
Al
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