New "Vintage" Gramophone
By Jim Canavan
The Winter 1997 issue of "The Sharper Image Home Collection" catalog contains the following item: "Vintage Gramophone: $595 ... Capturing the spirit of nostaglia this old-fashioned gramophone is run by an original mechanism (the casement and horn are reproductions); turn the working crank to power the gramophone. The gramophone is made by hand, one at a time, of plantation grown teak, and measures 19"W x 16"D x 28"H."
The accompanying photo shows a brand-spankin' new machine, with a fancy brass morning glory horn, and a mahogany-colored case with engaged, turned corner columns (very Columbia-looking to me). There's a color "HMV" decal on the front. From the photo angle, I can't tell what kind of reproducer it has. I'll bet they stuck an Orthophonic-type on it so the purchaser can play their parents' 1940's Big Band records on what's supposed to be a circa 1910 machine! The way the crank handle sticks way out from the case indicates to me that they're probably taking the motors out of "basket- case" Victrolas (or even worse, Silvertones!) and retrofitting them in these "teak" (gasp!) cases.
Yikes! Not to be politically incorrect with my terminology, but this is a prime example of what I call "Phono-Rape" -- it ranks up there with converting Victrolas into bars! Seems to me that anyone with the disposable income to waste $595 on something that's never going to increase in value can spend the $1000 - 1500 to obtain a REAL external horn gramophone that's only going to increase in value!!!
Of course, I'm not telling the rest of you anything new, but ... I very much fear that these "new" gramophones will make their way into flea markets and antique malls, only to be sold to the unwary mechanical music newcomer as originals. Oh well, "caveat emptor gramophoni", I guess!!!
Jim Canavan
CYBRFLASH@aol.com
Alexandria, VA |
(Message sent Tue 21 Jan 1997, 20:36:25 GMT, from time zone GMT-0500.) |
|
|
Mechanical
Music Digest™ Archives
