All Activity

I don't know exactly when annual directories were published, so it's possible Bacigalupi kept the franchise into the first half of 1899. Maybe. I can only guess that since Bacigalupi was Edison's primary jobber in the west, Edison may have pressured him to stick to phonographs. That's just a guess, but Bacigalupi must have had an incentive to pass up on Columbia's growing market share.

Rene, I didn't realize that Bacigalupi had dropped the Graphophone so early. In 1898 and 1899, Graphophones were selling like hotcakes between the Type A/AT, the "Eagle," and (in 1899) the Type Q. I can't help but wonder why Bacigalupi surrendered the franchise at that point. This also suggests that Grand Graphophones with Bacigalupi markings may not exist, since the Type GG didn't become available until January/February 1899, and the Home Grand didn't appear until June. Thanks for contributing these San Francisco City Directory entries. George P.

It's rare to find a Bacigalupi dealer tag or decal on a Graphophone. He evidently dropped the Columbia line by late 1898 or early 1899. Check out the San Francisco City Directory listings for Bacigalupi below, for 1898 and 1899. You will note the deletion of Graphophones between those dates. He was a loyal Edison man at least until the late 'aughts, when he took on Victor and Zonophone machines. He carried these in addition to Edison up to 1916, when he went out of business after a 24 year career. I've never seen a coin-op with a Bacigalupi decal before, though he did advertise "slot machines" (the term then used for any coin-operated device, not just gambling machines). Your BS may be the only such survivor! A really great find.

This was such an incredible find. It definitely gives one hope that amazing things are still lurking out there, just waiting to be discovered! I have to admit, this one makes my chuckle a bit. The Bacigalupi decal really is the cherry on top of an already sweet machine, but to see "EDISON" emblazoned on the front of a Graphophone? I'm sure the folks at Columbia wouldn't have appreciated that...

Andrew, I'm sorry to hear your example came to you stripped, but you're right, it could always have been worse! These early 50s seem to be quite uncommon, so it's really a blessing it survived in the first place. I'll look forward to your photos, even in the condition its in I'd love to see it. I really lucked out with #16. The finish certainly isn't perfect, the typical darkened and alligatored mahogany, but it cleaned up fairly nicely. My only regret is that some prior owner decided to solder a clock key onto the speed control. But I have to leave that as-is, since it is a part of the machine's history now.

Thanks Fran. I Googled how to fix it - apparently it's a common problem - but the fast-talking Youtube experts just told me to do other things I don't know how to do, while moving their cursors with lightning speed. After trying a half-dozen time I gave up. On Monday I'll take it to the local tech who is great and never annoys me! George P.

I hope you get your new PC issues resolved without much pain.

That was my first thought, but there are several BS Graphophones with higher serials but retaining the routed front panel. I can't be more specific because my Windows Libre Office has locked up and I am unable to access any of my documents. I LOVE computers and software... My wife wondered the same thing, but it seems nonsensical when Bacigalupi had these decals designed to integrate with Graphophone banner decals. If this BS originally had a banner decal, I believe it would have been the earliest serial number to have one. (I only wish I could access my files.) I really don't think that is the cause of the discoloration. George P.

What a great find! But don't you think it would fit in better in a collection adjacent to San Francisco? I've never seen a first generation BS without the lines at the lower front, but yours does have the angled, open-faced coin chute of the early ones. An intermediate example?? That's also the decal that came between the rare engraved metal tag and the more frequently seen decal only listing phonographs. The decals mentioning Graphophones weren't used very long. Ditto for the huge rubber stamp on the bottom, listing Graphophones. It's also very interesting that the decal has the 946 Market St. address that burned down in November 1898, while the stamp on the bottom reflects the new location at 933 Market. The pattern of the spotting on the front panel strike me as resembling a normal decal. Is it possible Bacigalupi removed it? That seems out of character but something caused that discoloration.

Thanks Fran!

Or make me a offer?

That's beautiful, George!

MODEL: Graphophone Type BS SERIAL #: 160301 YEARS MADE: 1898-1904(?) COST: $20.00 REPRODUCER: Graphophone #2 MOTOR: Eagle REPRODUCTION PARTS: Sign board. Naturally, someone broke and lost that. Also one of the two little springs in the timing gear/shutoff assembly. (But even the braided tube is original.) CURRENT VALUE: ? INTERESTING FACTS : This Type BS is early-production, but does not feature the routing typically seen on the cabinet front in early examples. Also, there is no large "The Graphophone" decal on the cabinet front, which - until now - has always been included on non-routed cabinets. Had there been a typical Graphophone decal on the front, the Bacigalupi decal would almost certainly have been applied over the bottom right-hand corner. The most interesting feature of this BS is the Bacigalupi provenance, as displayed on the cabinet front and beneath the base board. I can't explain the light area in the lower area of the stencil. It almost looks like someone attempted to clean it. Your guess is as good as mine but, fortunately, whatever happened didn't destroy the stencil. This machine is also a good example of interesting artifacts that still pop up "in the wild." Some "Before" pictures at the seller's cellar: Check out the bent crank: Crusty, but it wanted to run as soon as it arrived home. The timing gear/shutoff assembly was bent and a spring was missing.

Here's a Bacigalupi item I acquired a few months ago. Believe it or not, this came out of the wild. I'll describe it in detail under "Featured Phonographs" on this forum, but the Bacigalupi markings needed to be included here.

Thanks!!!

The various record storage boxes and albums are illustrated and described in the Victor Data Book. The chapter identifies specifically where each of the boxes/albums were used.

I tried searching but haven't been able to find any articles about what Victrola record albums came with different Victrola models. Does anyone know if there is such an article?

The Silvertone reproducer has been spoken for.

The cabinets on these two phonographs are too far gone to restore. If you can use any parts from them, send me a PM with an offer. The motors runs well but could use a good cleaning. The grills are in nice shape.

Thanks Nate for your reply. It's on my task list to provide you with some photos of this phonograph. Unfortunately for the machine and its factory aniline dye finish, the prior owner's father stripped the cabinet, apart from the inside of the lid, and then varnished the bare wood back in the '50s. Fortunately for me, he didn't apply a blonde finish that would require additional and harsher removal! Otherwise, it's a solid survivor with an undamaged and complete cabinet, including the metal grille. The internals are dirty and dull. I have them out at this time in preparation for performing a sensitive cosmetic restoration, and for cleaning and lubrication. There's also a problem with the winding that I need to address. It came to me as a donation from one of my clock repair customers, along with three small boxes of cylinders, about 45 in all. Two of the boxes still retain original Babson Brothers paper labels; icing on an already scrumptious cake. Finally for now, I appreciate your reminder that the factory would have been under duress in these first days following the disastrous December 9, 1914 fire. I hadn't yet connected this object that landed in my space to that dramatic event. To exaggerate, one can almost picture the residual smoke rising from piles of charred ruins, while these machines were being built. In reality, one can easily imagine the sounds and noise of reconstruction going all around those assembling these early post-fire machines; shouts of foremen and workmen, scaffolding assembly clanking, power equipment of all kinds and steam cranes still engaged in debris removal, etc. In the world of Edison's laboratory and its supporting lab buildings, and the factories on the premises producing the array of goods, from some contemporaneous accounts it seems that activities were carried on in an air of organized chaos in the best of times. It's easy to perceive how some anomalies arise, that we know are sometimes seen (though they represent a very small percentage of the bulk of the production), materially multiplied by the temporarily heavier pressure of the plant recovery.

That is truly astonishing.

Amazing work! Looks like new! I guess it blends well with the rest of the machine? What kind of finish did they use, do you know?

I just got the lid back for my Circassian Walnut Sonora Elite phonograph. Jon Schefield from New England Victrola Restorations did an amazing job to repair the Circassian veneer damage to the top of the lid. It also had some bad stains on it. Jon was able to restore the missing and damaged veneer without stripping it. I couldn't be more pleased with how it looks. I highly recommend him for restoration work. Their website is: https://nevictrola.com/

That's simply a beautiful early example of a quintessentially classic Phonograph! George P.

Thank you. My error. That must be the one I have a duplicate of, as well as a single copy of 52646.