The images below are just a few samples of the Reproductions and Pieced together machines out there. Unknowing buyers and beginners may think these are authentic antique pieces, when in reality, they are either Reproductions made to look like the old tyme phonographs or pieced-together ones from parts of many old machines. Please be aware that there are a lot of Reproductions and pieced-together phonographs out there for sale. Most sellers should know their product, so be careful buying online. Ask questions and always make sure you can return it if you are not happy with it. Shelling out a lot of money and learning you got fooled, is no fun. This section is for you to identify some reproductions and pieced-together machines and get familiar with what to look for when you look at phonographs. What is a pieced-together phonograph? I like to call them, Frankenphones, named after Frankenstein. These are phonographs usually built from many parts of different phonographs. This is misleading as the seller usually tries to pass this phonograph off as all authentic and all original. Sometimes it's hard to figure this out, sometimes, it's so very obvious. Reproductions are being sold as real antiques here in the USA and around the world. They are worth very little money. Most authentic phonographs with a external horn are in the hands of collectors. Don't get me wrong, they're out there, but you should know what you're looking for and know how much you want to spend before buying one. So please use this page to familiarize yourself with some of the styles of Reproductions (also called Replicas) that are floating around... |
Click HERE to watch a disturbing video of these fake replica gramophones being made.
There's a lot of confusion about these phonographs. They usually have a green water decal on them with a dog listening to a phonograph. Above that, it reads, HIS MASTERS VOICE. Not to confuse anyone, but in England in the early 1900's, there was once a company called HMV, His Masters Voice, that built phonographs. They used the logo of a white dog listening to a phonograph. Now days, these Reproductions use this logo in a way to "fool" newbies into thinking that this is an authentic old tyme phonograph. Please be aware there are real "HMV's" out there, but there are many differences in the original English HMV and these poorly built reproductions. |
Most Reproductions have the Green water decal on the front.
Sometimes, you will see an original Victor plate, taken from a Victrola, placed onto the Reproduction too, Also, the horn is usually a bright gold color and cheap flimsy tin, not brass as they indicate. Also, the elbow has a hard bend rather then a nice curve to it.
A. Flimsy tin horn. B. Decorative embossing design. C. Cheap tin Sound box. D. Elbow made of pipe. In this case, it doesn't even connect to the horn. E. The box or cabinet is made of pine wood. F. The elbow is two separate pieces of tin welded together to make a hard edge. G. Fake Victor or Victrola serial name plate. H. Flimsy tin back bracket with decorative embossed design. I. Hand crank with plastic handle. J. Cheap climsy tin speed control and volume controls.
Click on the small icons below to download the PDFs and see pages of an Catalog of Reproductions. These retailed for $27 USA, a piece. Some beginners mistaken these as real authentic antiques and pay a lot of money for them, unknowingly. Some sellers try to pass these off as vintage for hundreds of dollars. I would never recommend buying one of these. But if you are part of a school performance and need a prop for the show, then this is perfect choice. |
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Here is the Reproducer (Sound Box) that's on the reproduction HMV machines. Made of cheap metal and tin. |
Above are some samples of the fake Victor and Victrola serial plates that are placed on either Reproduction or Pieced phonographs to trick the buyer into thinking they are original "Victor" machines. These are three of many varieties of name plates you will see.
A. This is a sure sign that the motor in this Cabinet model phonograph is not original. The person took a different motor, and drilled a new hole so that the motor and the crank would fit into the cabinet of the phonograph.
B. This photo was donated by the owner of this work of art. They thought they had an original phonograph with a horn, but in reality, this is a Victor Victrola Model IV, table model. Also, the turntable and motor were that of an Edison Diamond Disc S-19 model. The horn itself was taken from an English Model and attached to the casing. In no way did it have any function. The crank was taken from an Edison and it sticks out way too far from the case. This is just one example of a "Frankenphone".
C. Here is a foreign reproduction model that was being sold as an authentic Victor phonograph. Notice the real Victor Model 5 serial plate on the front. Another dead give away is the angled crank coming out from the top of the case. These cranks are usually found in a Thorens Portable phonograph. Thoren was a popular motor manufacturer for portables. Therefore, this person took the motor from the Thorens and placed it into this phonograph casing trying to pass it off as a real Victor Talking Machine Co. Victor 5 gramophone.
