Joshua Lionel Cowen, born August 25, 1877 in New York City, started his toy train enterprise in the late 1900’s. Lionel's dominated the toy train market from day on and still does to this day. This was mainly due to Cowen’s personality and engineering skills. Cowen also had excellent marketing skills for his trains. One of the major marketing tools used by Lionel was the color catalogs they produced annually . … [Read more...]
The Victor XXV Schoolhouse Phonograph
The Victor -VVX (25) was also called the “School House Phonographâ€. The Victor XXV was intended to be used in schoolhouses. This phonograph was build to withstand rough use and could be moved with ease. The Victor XXV was made of basic oak. A lockable lid was also included to prevent little hands from damaging the tone arm and turntable. The early Victor VVX phonographs had a non-removable lid. This was soon replaced with a more convenient lid that could be removed and hung from the back of … [Read more...]
Find out the age of your Hummel Figurine
Hummel Figurines have been a part of many peoples lives over the year. There is a Hummel Figurine out there for almost every occasion; starting from "A Flower For You" to "Zealous Xylophonist". Boys and girls doing everyday duties from picking apples to delivering letters. I remember the Hummel Figurines that were always on the shelf just out of my reach when I was a little kid running around grandma's house. Now you may want to find out the age of the Hummel Figurine you remember so fondly. … [Read more...]
How to find the age of a Steinway Piano
Have you ever wondered how old your Steinway piano is? An antique is classified as something over 100 years old. You can read more about the differences between antique and collectibles in the article differences between antiques, collectibles, and vintage item. Steinway has been in business for around 150 years making only 50 years worth of pianos antiques. To find the age of your Steinway piano please see the Steinway chart below. … [Read more...]
eBay – The Death of the Common Antique Market
For years now when my Mechanical music friends, mentors, collogues, and myself get together for meetings and other events there is a subject that always comes up. That is the effect eBay is having on them and the antique world. This conversation on antiques always starts out the same way. They start talking about how good the prices for antiques were in the early 1990's. From about 1989 to early 1997 antique prices where the best ever seen. Then the year 1997 came along. This is when the antique … [Read more...]
Web Slinging Action Takes Comic Book Prices to a Whole New Level
Amazing Fantasy; #15; Marvel, 1962; milestone issue describing the origin and first appearance of Spider-Man. The story starts out a teenage nerd at New-York University is observing a science experiment on the new radiation technology when unexpectedly he gets bitten on the hand by a spider. … [Read more...]
The online Antiques, Collectibles Appraisal/Valuation process
Online appraisal/valuation differs from traditional appraisals because of geographical distance and lack of direct physical inspection of the subject property. The inability to inspect creates assignment conditions that are restrictive. These restrictive conditions do not prevent doing a credible appraisal. … [Read more...]
Finding the right Auction House to sell your Antiques
There are many auction houses around the world and each with different criteria on what they will take in for consignment. There are a few questions you should ask yourself before choosing an auction. In this article I will go over some of them and provide some tips to help you in your choice. … [Read more...]
The History of the Edison Cylinder Phonograph
Thomas Edison's work on two other inventions, the telegraph and the telephone as a result of this the phonograph was invented. In 1877, Edison was working on a machine that would transcribe telegraphic messages through indentations on paper tape, which could later be sent over the telegraph repeatedly. This development led Edison to wonder if a telephone message could also be recorded in a similar fashion. He experimented with a diaphragm which had an embossing point and was held against … [Read more...]
The Edison Opera Phonograph
The Edison opera was introduced in November 1911. This superior Edison phonograph was said to have given the best sound of any cylinder or disc machine. This phonograph had a horn-reproducer assembly which made it immobile. The cylinder would move under the stylus. This would produce very little mechanical noise. The reproducer was suspended over the cylinder record by its own output tube. This tube was held in the neck of the horn support by a knurled screw. To play a cylinder record you would … [Read more...]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- Next Page »
Recent Comments