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Post by lukewarmwater on Apr 19, 2007 17:15:26 GMT -5
I bought the machine from a fellow collector who is now elderly and sold off his collection. About 25 years ago, I asked him for right of fiirst refusal on it and damned if he didn't remember and call me! He sold the bulk of his collection off a few years ago, but hung on to this Opera for obvious reasons. It was among the last 2 or 3 favorites he disposed of. Significantly, it was the first phonograph he purchased and started him in the phono collecting hobby in 1958. He had just moved into a new home and was visiting his neighbor and he noticed the Opera sitting in the neighbor's gagrage. The neighbor -- an attorney -- had handled the estate of a senior partner who had recently passed away and no one in the family wanted the Opera so there it sat. The deceased attorney had purchased it new in 1912. My friend bought the Opera and took it home . . . the rest, as is said . . . is history. Along with the accompanying paper came the business card of the deceased attorney and the business card of the salesman at the Edison dealer that sold it. The attorney owned it for 46 years, and my friend 48 years. Now it's my turn! I have other traversing mandrel machines besides this one and have a couple of L's, a couple of Diamond A's, and an M. Call me paranoid, but I don't like to shout out serial numbers (sorry), but it is low . . . under 200. Luke W.
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Post by Matt Brown on Apr 19, 2007 18:07:51 GMT -5
Wow - great addition to your collection - wonderful machine in every respect. Congrats! Wanna post some pics for the rest of us to drool over?
Matt
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Post by lukewarmwater on Apr 19, 2007 18:25:52 GMT -5
You mean post pix of other stuff? Luke W.
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Post by Matt Brown on Apr 19, 2007 19:27:24 GMT -5
I meant pics of your new Opera.
Matt
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Post by lukewarmwater on Apr 19, 2007 20:51:49 GMT -5
Already posted, Matt . . . on page 1 of this thread! It's the one with the cabinet. Luke W.
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Post by Matt Brown on Apr 19, 2007 22:02:22 GMT -5
Didn't notice that I was on page 2, sorry.
BEAUTIFUL machine! Wow! Great looking cabinet, too!
Thanks for sharing!
Matt
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Post by gramophoneshane on Apr 19, 2007 22:33:44 GMT -5
SWEET!! I've seen a few opera's before, but never with the cabinet. It's a truly beautiful accessory, and I doubt there would be many original pairs left in the world. I'd imagine the record cabinet would have cost almost as much as the machine originally. The extra paper work etc that came with it was a real bonus. It just goes to show, it's always worth putting an "offer to buy if you ever sell it" in with a collector- even if it takes 25 years to be offered. Congratulations on a fine piece of history.
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Post by lukewarmwater on Apr 20, 2007 13:06:33 GMT -5
Thanks for the compliments Matt and Shane. Luke W.
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Post by maroongem on Apr 21, 2007 11:00:22 GMT -5
Under 200, nice! Mine is ser#1926(which I don't mind sharing), and prob. was made in early 1912. This motor & mechanism was, IMHO, his best. The one thing I wished he had caried over from his A(1) was the lifting of the Reproducer when the machine shut off. I have to remember when playing them to lift the Reproducer off the Opera & the Amberola III before removing the cylinder! Bill
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