This post follows my earlier inquiry published in
https://www.mmdigest.com/archives/Digests/202609/2026.09.08.01.html 

I would like to clarify and expand several parts of that inquiry.
I am trying to reconstruct the progression of Theodore R. "Ted"
Duncan's independent work across inexpensive mechanical music devices,
toy phonograph mechanisms, and the later voice-box units manufactured
through Ted Duncan, Inc. My central questions are

1. Which devices did Duncan personally invent, and which did he or
Ted Duncan, Inc. manufacture?

2. Which companies licensed or purchased those devices, and can
particular mechanisms be connected to particular commercial products?

3. What did Ted Duncan, Inc., produce under its own name or supply to
other manufacturers?

The family account mentioned in my previous post appeared in a 2002
antiques column and reportedly relied on information supplied by one
of Duncan's sons:

https://vindyarchives.com/news/2002/dec/29/the-kovels-antiques-and-collecting-for-many 

It stated that Duncan-manufactured talking units were used by Ideal,
GUND, Carnival, Ohio Art, and Mattel, and more personal accounts
like him and his wife recording material for these units. I would
especially like to identify the specific products involved and find
documentary evidence for those relationships, including catalogs,
advertisements, trade literature, technical drawings, correspondence,
company records, or clearly identified surviving mechanisms.

I am also interested in Duncan's earlier rubber-belt music mechanisms.
Have collectors or restorers identified physical or technical features
that reliably distinguish Duncan-designed or Duncan-manufactured
mechanisms from later Mattel modifications or implementations made
by other manufacturers?

Finally, I would be grateful for names or introductions to former
Ted Duncan, Inc. employees, members of Duncan's family, collectors,
restorers, or researchers with particular knowledge of his work.

In my earlier post, I referred to MBSI members when I meant to address
the MMD readership more generally. I understand that Mechanical Music
Digest and the Music Box Society International are separate entities,
although their memberships may overlap.

Thank you again for any information, corrections, or leads.

Tristan Walker Jordan - MFA Graduate Student
Maryland Institute College of Art
Baltimore, Maryland
tjordan02@mica.edu.geentroep [delete ".geentroep" to reply]