Phonophemera

[Guest]

I have collected so much "phonophemera" over the years so I picked a couple out that may be of some small interest. First is a signed photo-postcard of Vesta Victoria, second is an ad from around 1896 from Frank Seaman's National Gramophone Company in New York. It came nicely framed which was a bonus with what little I paid for it.

[KinetoGuy]

Some early phono ephemera.....

[Tinfoilphono]

Wow -- that first card is an exact duplicate of one in my collection. I'm amazed to see another. Mine still has the scrap of original recorded tinfoil pasted to the front. The card was originally tinted purple. The front of mine has faded from display in the past but the back still retains some of its color.

 

 

 

 

[Tinfoilphono]

Here's a tinfoil handbill, measuring 17.5" x 6" and printed on fragile, tissue-thin paper. It was clearly not expected to survive beyond December 1879.

 

 

Among the more unusual pieces of tinfoil ephemera I have is this 8.5" x 11" promotional flyer for a demonstration in Boston in June 1878, printed in the form of a 4-page "newspaper" filled with puffery about the wonderful new phonograph.

 

 

 

 

[KinetoGuy]

wow...awesome ephemera....I love the tinfoil phono ephemera (very hard to come by), as much as the peephole kinetoscope ephemera...which I will post if no one objects to non-phonograph postings.....I will post some phonograph and kinetoscope combo-show items I have.....I wish my Merchant's Building card had the tinfoil still attached....my card is still a nice yellow color...the Bridgeport advertisement too is on thin, fragile paper...it was preserved as it was stuck in a book, someone was probably using it as a bookmark....your Boston flyer is amazing....

[KinetoGuy]

Just remembered...one more tinfoil item...

[Tinfoilphono]

51 minutes ago, KinetoGuy said:

it was preserved as it was stuck in a book, someone was probably using it as a bookmark.

 

That reminds me of what is possibly my rarest piece of ephemera -- a handbill promoting the sale of tinfoil phonographs. It is the earliest known phonograph sales advertisement, dating to early 1879. Like your Bridgeport handbill, this was found folded inside a book, where it survived a century and a quarter in near-perfect condition. It's also on very thin 'flimsy' paper, meant to be pasted to a telegraph pole or wall.

 

 

I find it hilarious that they used an engraving of Edison with the so-called "Brady" tinfoil of late 1877 / early 1878 but they were selling the Parlor Model tinfoil, which is much smaller and simpler. They acknowledged the fact with the parenthetical understatement that it was "imperfectly rendered in the engraving." If anyone ordered a phonograph expecting one resembling the picture, they were in for a surprise!

 

EDIT to add: I'd love to see your Kinetoscope material!

 

Edited July 19, 2020 by Tinfoilphono

[KinetoGuy]

That is an awesome handbill....

 

I will post the kinetoscope material soon....thank you......

 

It is nice to be able to share these materials...they sit here in looseleaf binders and in closets, and while my wife has tolerated my hobbies for the past 35 years, she grimaces whenever I get something .....though she did like the edison phonograph and records advertisement I just got...she said the green color is nice.....

[Guest]

12 hours ago, KinetoGuy said:

 .....though she did like the edison phonograph and records advertisement I just got...she said the green color is nice.....

Take a victory whenever you can get one.

David

[KinetoGuy]

Amen to that...!!!!

[melvind]

Here is an Edison flyer for an Entertainment of the improved machine. I do not know how old this is, but I have always liked it. I found it already framed in an antique mall 10 or so years ago. What a fun thread this is.

 

[Tinfoilphono]

I have a similar flyer from the same exhibitor. I would guess these date to the late 1890s.

 

[melvind]

Here is something interesting from a bit later. This is related to Edison Re-Creation records. It is a Mood Change Chart or a way to review records I think. It seems strange to me and it seems to have been intended for the public to fill out and return to their Edison dealer. 

 

Front:

 

Back:

Edited July 19, 2020 by melvind

[melvind]

Here are two Edison Magic Lantern slides. Both are of the same common picture, but one appears to be older than the other and they are slightly different sizes.

 

Older:

 

I think Newer:

[melvind]

And then there is this Will's Cigarettes card for the first tinfoil machine.

 

 

[Grammophon]

Here is a link to my Edison phonograph patent declaration of 1878 for British India. As far as I know, it's the only one for the tinfoil phonograph in private hands: https://grammophon-platten.de/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?47043.post

[KinetoGuy]

That is an amazing document....wow...!!!!!

[KinetoGuy]

Neat cigarette cards...I have seen that card many times but do not recall seeing what was written on the back....

[Fran604g]

Wow, this is a fantastic show of early phonograph ephemera, thank you all!

[Oceanlinerfanatic191]

That advertising card with the tinfoil on that is amazing. Even though it is cut down and only about 2 seconds of material are on it. I wonder if there is a way to scan the grooves and play back what is on it Just like the original restored tinfoil recordings.

[Tinfoilphono]

It would be possible today to scan the scrap of foil and extract the sound. But the foil is cut vertically, and is only about 3/4" long, out of a piece that was originally about 17" long. So whatever sounds remain would be so short as to be unintelligible. 

 

That said, I'd love to hear it even if it's completely random noise. But the technology is still far too expensive for such a meaningless exercise today. Maybe someday.

[phonogfp]

I enjoyed seeing this thread of over three years ago.  I have no idea why I didn't contribute at the time, unless it was my typical snobbishness.😉

 

I wrote two articles on surviving traces of talking machine exhibitions for the APS magazine.  Here's the first one, which appeared in the March 2013 issue:

 

exhibitions-rve1.pdf

 

There was a second article, but I can't find it in my digital files.  However, the images are in the picture files, so...

 

In early 2008, a friendly local antique dealer called to let me know that he had a gift for me.  (How many dealers do THAT?)  When I arrived, he handed me this:

 

 

Like others in this thread, it was being used as a bookmark.  Unfortunately, much of it is missing.  Here's what the entire handbill looked like (this for a Rochester, NY engagement):

 

 

Note that the exhibitor was J.S. Vale, a documented purchaser of one of the first Edison tinfoil Phonographs.  These two handbills were used during Vale's 1878 tour of the Genesee Valley in western New York State.  These artifacts triggered another article for the APS magazine in 2008, which included modern-day images of the buildings where Vale had demonstrated his Phonograph. 

 

Here's a later (probably mid/late 1890s) poster touting the use of a horn rather than those old-fashioned ear tubes:

 

 

This poster from the John M Smyth mail-order house dates from the first few years of the 20th century, and resembles the well-known Sears posters, but this one features a nondescript disc talking machine:

 

 

The next one is a pole bill for a combination moving-picture/Graphophone exhibition:

 

 

I really like this next one, not only for its text, but for its size: about 3" x 5" unfolded:

 

 

The other sides:

 

 

The last one is, I believe, from Maine, but if so, either the operator or the compositor misspelled both towns mentioned!

 

 

George P.