phonogfp Posted February 8, 2021 Share Posted February 8, 2021 "On This Day in Phonographic History..." October 8, 1896: Levi Montross filed for a U.S. patent for a “Spring Motor.” This device would become the first spring motor to power the Berliner Gramophone. These lever-wound machines were available from December 1896 until August 1897. February 8, 1898: Levi Montross was granted a U.S. patent (No.598,529) for a “Spring Motor.” The first version was in a metal "can" mounted to a wooden baseboard: From The Talking Machine Compendium by Fabrizio & Paul. All Rights Reserved. The second version was in a wooden cabinet: From The Talking Machine Compendium by Fabrizio & Paul. All Rights Reserved. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melvind Posted February 8, 2021 Share Posted February 8, 2021 George, I love these posts. They are entertaining and informative. I think you should consider another book with this as the topic! Daily meditations for phono-nerds. Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phonogfp Posted February 9, 2021 Author Share Posted February 9, 2021 I'm glad you enjoy the posts, Dan. I'm not quite at "daily," but maybe in a few more years' time... As for another book, don't you know that people don't buy books anymore???? Thanks for the encouragement! George P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melvind Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 45 minutes ago, phonogfp said: As for another book, don't you know that people don't buy books anymore???? I was mostly joking as you surely knew. But, I still buy books of all kinds and I use the printed phonograph books I have quite a lot. I still find it much easier to study something with a printed book. Online is a different and much less satisfying way to actually study something. Finding quick info and references works pretty well, but really knowing what you are dealing with is much easier with a physical book. Then again my perspective could be skewed as my part-time retirement job is in a bookstore. We sure do sell a lot of books to folks what do not read online or on a device. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phonogfp Posted February 9, 2021 Author Share Posted February 9, 2021 I too was being tongue-in-cheek, but I'm not planning to write any more books! I'm like you, Dan, in preferring a book to reading online. 12 or 15 years ago, our daughter and her husband gave me a Kindle for Christmas. I happily loaded all sorts of obscure books on it - - the sort of thing I couldn't find in our local bookstores (almost all of which have since closed, unfortunately). But I found that navigating was often impossible - for instance if I was reading an anthology of stories, it often wouldn't let me choose the story from the Table of Contents. Instead I had to plod page-by-page to arrive where I wanted to be. I expect they've improved things since then, but meanwhile, I lost patience with the thing. I don't recall ever losing patience with a real book. I also value having control of the book. I don't need to be dependent upon a website, ISP, or even the power company to read a book. One thing's for sure - - Even if I someday must sell every phonograph and record I own, I'll die still owning all my phonograph books! George P. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neilvanstem Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 Ha ha no one buys books any more. Sure wish then the prices would come down. I just paid $85.00 for a biography of some opera singer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran604g Posted June 9, 2022 Share Posted June 9, 2022 (edited) Hiya folks, As my time in the gardens has been paused due to cold/rain, I got a bug in my mind about an advertisement that I received as a gift from a good friend, Tim Fabrizio, years ago. Don't ask me why the thought was suddenly thrust into my gray matter, - this sort of random thoughts thing happens more frequently than I'd care to admit. Unfinished business stored in the memory banks for future rumination? I dunno. Maybe Allen's Nipper article in the June TAP sparked the particular neurons to burst into flame this cold, wet early June day. At any rate, I thought today I'd try to narrow down a period for this ad, as there's no header or date to give a hint to the publication or when it may have appeared. Well, I also recalled seeing George's post about this iconic 1st lever-wind Berliner and it occurs to me that that's the model in my enigmatic ad, so I thought I'd "ad" it to George's post for posterity. I'm confident the ad would've appeared in 1896 in time for the Christmas sales push. If anyone can add to my assumption, please feel free. Cheers, Fran Edited June 9, 2022 by Fran604g Author error Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phonogfp Posted June 14, 2022 Author Share Posted June 14, 2022 The National Gramophone Company placed a surprising number of these ads featuring the metal-cased lever-wound Berliner Gramophone beginning in November 1896 and well into the spring (and perhaps early summer) of 1897. I haven't made a careful study of these ads, but the first of these are Christmas themed. I have one of these, but it's not where I thought it was... After Christmas, the ads emphasized the variety of parlor entertainment offered by the Gramophone, and I believe Fran's example pictured above is one of these early-1897 ads. Shown below is a 4-panel flyer issued by the National Gramophone Company between (I believe) February and May 1897. It shows not only the metal-cased lever-wound machine, but the wooden-cased version which supplanted it. I attempted to date this flyer by consulting Paul Charosh's book, Berliner Gramophone Records in America, and checking the recording dates for each record listed. Selection #14 ("Boston Belles") was recorded on February 10, 1897, which makes this document no earlier. Selection #17 ("Belles of Virginia") was re-recorded as a duet on May 7, 1897, which I believe establishes the latest point for this flyer. You'll see that the advertising copy in Fran's ad is quite similar to that in this flyer. The "Improved Gramophone" did not appear until August 1897, so we can assume that similar advertising material for the lever-wound machine and the two hand-driven machines continued in the same vein until that time. George P. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran604g Posted June 14, 2022 Share Posted June 14, 2022 Thank you very much George! I thought about trying to date the records in my ad, but I don't have a comprehensive guide for Berliner's records of that time, that I could find. I appreciate your help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phonogfp Posted June 14, 2022 Author Share Posted June 14, 2022 Fran, I'd be happy to lend you my copy of the Charosh book if you like. I can bring it along with your Zonophone horn! George 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran604g Posted June 14, 2022 Share Posted June 14, 2022 That would be great George, thank you very much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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