Somebody needs to engage Ron Dethlefson on this, because he may be able to help! Andrew Baron wrote: > Hi Rich and thank you for checking in. > > I find the formative years of development of the Edison Disc > technology to be very compelling, and I'm learning that there doesn't > seem to be much known about it. Since the A-250 was derived from the > Amberola cabinet that first appeared in 1909, it is the forerunner to > all of the Edison Disc phonograph line. > > I just found a date at the bottom of form 632, the paper slip pasted > to the back door of my early A-250; of 11-20-12. > > Thus, I can now narrow down the date that my early A-250 was made, > from approximately December 1912 (the month following the paper form > date) to roughly April 1913 (the month after the last patent date on > the ID plate of my later A-250, assuming that not more than a few > weeks went by before the ID plates were re-tooled to reflect the > newest patents). > > If there were any documentation, or in lieu of documentation, if > there are some others like you, with these machines who would be > willing to compare details and furnish serial numbers, I could > assemble a database that shows by serial number how late into the > production certain details of these earliest D.D. machines were seen. > > I documented several differences I noted between my two A-250 > machines in postings to this forum earlier this week, and this > evening Peter Fraser will be posting three (I hope) images I emailed > him showing a few of these differences. If there's interest, I can > prepare a brief yes/no questionnaire that will enable us to document > these differences in an organized way. > > This way we can all learn more about what we have. The hope is that > at some point the information collected can convey the variety of > different details, and help us narrow down the date of manufacture of > these special, first generation, non-standardized examples. > > Best, > Andy Baron > > > > On Jun 22, 2007, at 12:31 PM, Rich wrote: > >> I have an A-250 and would be interested in seeing what you are >> talking about. >> >> Rich >> >> >> On Fri, 22 Jun 2007 11:33:44 -0600, Andrew Baron wrote: >> >>> Hi George and thanks for taking the time to reply. I realize that >>> there isn't much information documented, and this is what I'm running >>> up against as much as anything else. >> >>> Neither of my two machines have paper notices on the cabinet bottoms, >>> but the later one has a data plate with the newest patent date of >>> Mar-11-13, wihle the earlier machine has the newest patent date of >>> 8-26-11. The 6 in 26 is hard to make out, and might be a 3, 8 or 9. >> >>> Do you have a sense of how soon the patent dates on these model / >>> serial number plates were updated, once a new patent was issued? >> >>> Peter Fraser has graciously offered to post photos of the early >>> levers, so I've prepared some composited images of the differing >>> details of both of my A-250's. My hope is that some of the Edison >>> enthusiasts out there are familiar with this start / stop lever >>> arrangement. If someone else has a machine with these odd levers, >>> I'd love to know the serial number, so I can get a sense of how late >>> into the production it was used. >> >>> What piqued my curiosity to begin with was that I had never seen >>> these levers before. I don't know if that's because I haven't gotten >>> around to the shows and big collections, or because they are >>> relatively little known, even by other collectors. I bought my first >>> D.D. machine in 1976, and have had many over the years, but this is >>> the first I've seen with this odd detail. >> >>> Best, >>> Andy >> >> >> >>> On Jun 22, 2007, at 7:55 AM, gpaul2000 at aol.com wrote: >> >>>> >>>> Andy, >>>> Unfortunately, without some factory documentation of each model's >>>> serial numbers within a given month, exact dating for A-series >>>> Edison Disc Phonographs is quite difficult.? I've seen two types of >>>> paper license notices glued to the bottoms of these cabinets.? The >>>> earlier has no date at the bottom, and the later one has an April >>>> 1914 date.? Keep in mind that very few Edison Disc Phonographs were >>>> available to the public until Aug/Sept 1913, and the fire of Dec. >>>> 1914 put an end to most A-series production.? That gives roughly a >>>> 15-month window for most of our A-series machines.? Given the two >>>> different license notices, I break down the A-series dating to >>>> "late 1913/early 1914" and "mid/late 1914."? That's about as >>>> precise as I can get, given the limited information available. >>>> >>>> I'd be interested in seeing a photo of your start/stop mechanism.? >>>> It sounds like one I had many years ago, and I'm pretty sure that >>>> it's the earliest version.? On page 39 of Frow's "Edison Disc >>>> Phonographs...", an "A-150" is shown with what appears to be the >>>> conventional start/stop device, and this photo is dated March 2, >>>> 1914.? Presuming that all models adopted this newer design at the >>>> same time, and your "A-250" carries a pre-April 1914 license >>>> notice, I'd date it as "late 1913/early 1914."? Hope this helps, >>>> >>>> George Paul >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> ____________________________________________________________________ >>>> __ >>>> __ >>>> AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's >>>> free from AOL at AOL.com. >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> Phono-L mailing list >>>> http://phono-l.oldcrank.org >> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Phono-L mailing list >>> http://phono-l.oldcrank.org >> >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Phono-L mailing list >> http://phono-l.oldcrank.org > > _______________________________________________ > Phono-L mailing list > http://phono-l.oldcrank.org >