Bacigalupi

[Tinfoilphono]

It has always somewhat mystified me that there is so much interest, nationally and even internationally, in memorabilia from a dealer local to me—Peter Bacigalupi. There is similar, but someone less fanatic, interest in Hawthorne & Sheble, but as for other major dealers of the day (e.g. Lyons & Healy, Kipp Bros., Grinell Bros., Eastern Talking Machine Co., etc.) there's almost no following, other than a common passion for dealer decals and badges—but typically not memorabilia.

 

Anyway, everyone seems to love Bacigalupi so how about sharing some of your related material?

 

I'll start with this embossed oil bottle, which is the only one of its kind I have ever heard of.

[RodPickett]

FANTASTIC!

[Tinfoilphono]

Since nothing else has been posted, I'll go ahead with another bit of memorabilia, this time unquestionably one of a kind: the original letter sent by Edison in response to Bacigalupi's first inquiry about buying phonographs for resale in South America in 1894. Edison blew Bacigalupi off and couldn't even be bothered to sign the letter himself—he left that for his secretary to do. It was a very inauspicious start for young Peter Bacigalupi.

 

I have to wonder how Bacigalupi ultimately got Edison's attention and interest, and within just a few years was able to become Edison's largest jobber of phonographs, cylinders, and kinetoscopes in the western United States.

[RodPickett]

A couple of very nice items indeed, and rare.  The only representation I have is a cylinder box and I presume these are a lot more common.

[phonogfp]

Here's an invoice from June 18, 1898 for a $25.00 Graphophone.  Given the date, this was probably a Type A, but the AT appeared about this time, so it might have been one of the first of those.

 

I assume that Peter Bacigalupi himself filled this out, since his signature is at the bottom.  He had decent penmanship for such a prosaic document.

 

George P.

Edited May 23, 2020 by phonogfp

[RodPickett]

?

[Valecnik]

Fascinating thread.  I especially like the receipts and payment contracts.  "Only $15 to be paid on this now." , in this case.  I wonder if Mr. Bacigalupi received  the balance since no time frame was specified.

[RodPickett]

I see 2 different addresses on the invoice, 933 and 946 Market St.  If I recall the history, didn't he start at one Market St. address and move to another later?  Is this in the transition period?

[Tinfoilphono]

I will need to dig through my files to find the sequence of addresses. He had two addresses, one for the business and one for his arcade.

 

Here's another bit of memorabilia, a Concert box.

 

[phonogfp]

Some nice Bacigalupi items in this thread.  I kinda forgot I had these Bacigalupi cards until Rene mentioned the arcade.  These three were all mailed on August 1, 1905.

 

George P.

[RodPickett]

These are super.  What a great collectible.

[Tinfoilphono]

Those postcards are amazing. I've never even heard of them before!

[phonogfp]

Thanks, fellows.  You're the first to see them since I bought them years ago!

 

I'll bet we all have lots of paper items stuffed into drawers that would be good subjects for threads of this sort.

 

George P.

[RodPickett]

Does your wife know you have those?  I won't tell, for a reward of course.

[phonoobsession]

Here's a record sleeve ... probably the least rare of all Bacigalupi items ... 

[RodPickett]

That is very nice, and, I've never seen one before.  Thanks for sharing.

[Shawn]

I'll add my item, a penny-sized token!!!

 

Shawn 

[Shawn]

Here is the back side - with the arcade address. 

[Tinfoilphono]

I love the token!

 

The disc record sleeve is indeed rare. That was printed after 1910, when Bacigalupi brought his sons into the business with him. He only continued in business to 1916.

[Phonomark]

Okay, I'll jump in too!!  Rene' and I both live in the SF Bay Area and are fascinated with anything Bacigalupi.  Here are three fold out post cards showing the devastation of the 1906 SF Earthquake.  One is the same scene with a different rubber stamp.

 

Note that they are stamped with Peter Bacigalupi & Sons.  Plus check out the two address locations...!  I'll post a separate comment on that.

 

Mark

[Phonomark]

Here's an early brown wax record slip. 

 

Bacigalupi had a SF recording studio.  Would be great to hear a brown wax record announced as such..!!

 

Mark

[RodPickett]

All of these are fantastic examples.  I would love to know more about the address history.   Thanks for sharing all the photos.

[Phonomark]

I mentioned addresses.

 

Well it's interesting to trace the location history of Bacigalupi in San Francisco both before and after the 1906 Earthquake.  I have three different cylinder record boxes with different addresses.  From left to right, earlier to later, there is a transition from selling Phonographs and Graphophones, to just Phonographs.  The company name also changed from "Edison Phonograph and Graphophone Agency" to just "Edison Phonograph Agency".

 

In chronological order, the best I can tell, here's a transition of addresses:

• Exhibition Parlor at 946 Market Street (Baldwin Hotel) and Salesroom/Office at 933 Market Street, 4th Floor
• Exhibition Parlor at 1030 Market Street and Salesroom/Office/Laboratory at 933 Market Street
• Exhibition Parlor at 840 Market Street and Salesroom/Office at 933 Market Street
• Then the great earthquake of 1906
• Reopened as Peter Bacigalupi, Edison Phonographs and Records at 786 & 788 Mission Street
• Then became Peter Bacigalupi & Sons located at 1113 Fillmore Street and at 1021 Golden Gate Avenue

I'm probably missing something in this summary and it would be great to hear more about his locations, but it's safe to say that he was on the move alot, partially due to the earthquake's devastation to the City...!!

 

Mark

[Tinfoilphono]

Thanks for those great additions to the thread, Mark!

 

The 946 Market St. location was opened in 1895, and appears in the City Directory that year as "Edison's Kinetoscope, Phonograph and Graphophone Arcade."

 

Back in the late 1990s (if I recall correctly), Ray Phillips documented at least 12 different Bacigalupi cylinder box labels, not counting the Concert top label. I only have two so I have a long way to go.

[Tinfoilphono]

1 hour ago, Phonomark said:

 Rene' and I both live in the SF Bay Area and are fascinated with anything Bacigalupi.

 

That reminded me to dig out a memorable photo, taken when Mark brought his Edison Standard with Polyphone attachment to my house to compare with my own. (Mine is on the left.)

 

 

I doubt two Bacigalupi-marketed Polyphones have been together like this since before the 1906 earthquake.