The foremost authority in the world on tinfoil phonos is Rene Rondeau. Also, I think Rene is the only person who has arranged for any tinfoil to be made in the last 60 years or so. I know he's arranged at least 2 production runs at great expense. I believe the majority of it went to the Henry Ford Museum and the Smithsonian for their tinfoil demos. The rest was made available to collectors, and may still be available. I bought some in both rolls and cut sheets.
Rene wrote the authoritative book on the subject called Tinfoil Phonographs in 2001. I can't imagine any phono collector not buying a copy, so you will probably want to buy one from Rene. It also mentions some of the replica makers. Edison's staff made blueprints of the Kruesi in 1928-1930. When I visited the West Orange Lab in about 1967, their gift shop sold me a bound copy of the blueprints, with a color picture of the Kruesi original on the cover. Most or all of the replicas would have been based on these prints (including the extra holes in the base). Rene says the Ptacek and Stehlik replicas are even more accurate than the blueprints, base on study of the original machine. My replica Kruesi tinfoil phono was made by Elmer Jones. His name is cast into the cast iron base (on the bottom). Rene's book said the Elmer produced about 15 replicas in the 1960's, but I bought mine from Elmer at Union for $500 (I think around 1980). Elmer told me he planned a run of about 10 Kruesi machines, but he didn't say if mine was the first of 10. I think it was. I was astounded that that machine was for sale all day Saturday, and no one bought it until I did in mid-afternoon! Bill Ptacek made 25 replicas, and Mirek Stehlik made 30, according to the book. Bill's are marked WCP with a date on the bottom, and Mirek's are unmarked, but have a serial number stamped on the end of the main shaft, says the book. When I was at the Henry Ford Museum in 2009, I visited the Menlo Park complex. After watching a woman play a tinfoil recording on an original Bergmann/Edison phono, I asked her if she knew that Rene Rondeau supplied her with the tinfoil. She said "that name sounds familiar". She opened the drawer in the table that the phono was sitting on, and pulled out a copy of Rene's book! I said "that's him!". Jim Nichol On May 17, 2012, at 1:02 AM, Andrew Baron wrote: > I know this has been covered here before, but I'm seeking a little knowledge > for the Pavek Museum of Broadcasting, that they might know more about a > beautiful reproduction Kreusi replica (part of the Jack Mullin Collection), > and where to source the soft tin foil appropriate for demonstrating that > machine. > > I noticed that their replica tin foil phonograph has the faithfully recreated > details in the base, like the oblong "prior use" holes in the base, as per > the authentic Kreusi phonograph at the ENHS. I'm aware that a number of > replicas were made by at least two or three individuals and wonder how to > determine the origin of this one. As I recall there might be an identifying > mark or limited serial number on the bottom? > > And as noted above, where does one obtain the foil? > > Thanks in advance for any assistance with these questions. > > Andrew Baron > Santa Fe _______________________________________________ Phono-L mailing list http://phono-l.org
