[Phono-L] Re: west point clarification IS APPRECIATED...

ClockworkHome at aol.com ClockworkHome at aol.com
Mon Jun 25 02:59:53 PDT 2007


Greetings Howard:
 
It is very kind of you to send out this clarification on the West Point Horn. 
 There is much that went into the first book that I had no chance to correct. 
 I was sent a galley proof and quickly made many corrections to the text and 
photographs, most of which I took and printed in my dark room.  I called 
George Frow only a day after receiving the proof to tell him I was sending off a 
list of corrections.  At that point I was told the book had gone to press.
 
I only received profits from the books I personally sold and never recouped 
my investment in the project.  When the writing of the Companion was under way 
I had lost interest and did not wish to contribute even though I had completed 
my collection of all the Edison domestic cylinder machines.  George's 
Companion is a remarkable and wonderful expansion work which in hindsight I wish I 
had sent him photographs of all the machines he did not have and more 
information to add to the text.
 
One of the sad parts was that I wished to do a lot of research at the Edison 
archives but that door was closed when that crook Phil Peterson raided the 
archive of so many historic and valuable documents.  I did have my suspicions 
that the West Point Horn was from a much later period but went with what was 
given in the first book until I could disprove it.  Can you tell me where you 
found reference to the horn in a later document that shows its true usage?  I 
would find that fascinating.
 
I bought that horn from Bill Endlein!  I still have it somewhere in storage.  
I am also very glad to NOT have paid $4,650 for it.  I lost interest in 
phonographs for many years and only in the last couple of years have become a 
follower of eBay Edison sales.  You are so correct about how people bid wildly 
without knowing much about on which they are bidding.  When I see phonographic 
mutts like a Red Banner Home case on a later Model A advertised as all original 
though the serial number clearly shows it should be a black banner late A, I 
wince!  Edison machines just seem to lend themselves to kitchen table 
conglomerations of parts.  That is why it is always a good idea to ask the serial number 
and I wish more sellers would automatically include it in the description.
 
Kindest Regards and may all your finds be rare ones,
 
Al
 



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