Customer Reviews

The Edison Disc Phonographs and the Diamond Discs: A History with Illustrations

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Let me get out of the way first that I would have given this book 5 stars if it had an index. So, for example, if you want to find information about a particular Edison phonograph model you have to flip pages. Why this basic and useful feature is missing is quite puzzling.

That said this is a valuable addition to the library of persons interested in antique phonographs. As mentioned on the back cover there are a number of books dealing with early phonographs and gramophones. I would add that this includes books about Edison's invention of the phonograph in general and the early cylinder phonographs of the Edison Company. However there was almost nothing of substance on Edison's venture into phonographs playing disc records, his "Diamond Discs." This book fills that niche and does for Edison Diamond Disc Phonographs what Robert Baumbach's superb "Look for the Dog" does for phonographs made by the Victor Talking Machine Company.

This book is quite logically organized. It starts with a history ranging from Edison's early thoughts of a disc phonograph in the 1870s through their later development and ending with the demise of that part of the Edison Company in late 1929. This is followed by descriptions of each of the Edison disc phonograph models made over the years, given in the order in which they were introduced. This includes photographs, model numbers, dimensions, type of cabinet, cost when sold, type of motor used, and the history of each model including (in many cases) the number produced. Next is material on how records were made, about some experimental cabinets for the machines that were never made, and about contractors who made phonograph cabinets for Edison. At the conclusion there are a number of useful appendices dealing with Edison Company promotional schemes, marketing of these machines outside of the U.S., artists who recorded on Diamond Discs, etc.

I bought this book because I plan to add one example of an Edison disc phonograph to my modest phonograph collection and needed to be well enough informed to make an intelligent choice of which models should be on my short list. The needed information is here.

In short, this is a very good book for its intended audience. Whether you are a collector or just a person who has inherited an old family Diamond Disc phonograph and wants to know more about it, this will be a nice addition to your library.

This book is a T.U.R.D. ( Totally Unorganized, Rudimentary Depth )

Who will benefit most from this book :

Before I tell you why this book is almost certainly not worth more than a tiny amount of money, allow me to tell you who it will appeal to : the idle rich. If you are one of those people who has added 20,000 square feet to your house, in which to display your music box collection ( including the antique Circus railroad music cars you found in Austria, and had shipped back ), this book will aid you in determining which phonograph models are required to complete your collection. ( And yes, the guy above really does exist ; I know him personally )

Clearly, a great many people are not interested in buying a book entitled `'Edison Diamond Disc Cabinet History, The Comprehensive Photo Inventory of Designs'', so a crazy-quilt of disparate trivia was thrown in to make for a more marketable book. One must assume that voluminous information was available on Edison cabinets, given the wide attention given it, albeit lacking depth, in each and every model tediously cataloged

What is wrong with this book :

As for the rest of us, the information is almost ideally laid out for easy conversion into an adaptation of the wildly popular 80's board game "Trivial Pursuit". there is an odd collection of chapters and a host of not-quite chapters ( apparently neither the author or the publisher knew what to call them ) in addition to the many and varied Appendices. This is the reason for my claim that the book is `'Totally Unorganized'' : finding information is sketchy at best. As the author was unable to find a way to weave the various facets of this Edison business together into a cohesive, lucid whole the end result was predictable

What I liked, and you might as well :

BUT ... having said all that, the trivia is worth a look ( I borrowed a copy through inter-library loan, free of charge ). For example, have you ever wondered about the chemical composition of the Diamond Discs themselves ? You will find a shallow description here. Have you heard that crazy rumor about Edison making a concrete cabinet, a wicker cabinet player, or an Army/Navy Player ? Again, a bit of information about each can be found here. To be fair, the Army/Navy player is cover with some depth. As I said before, we can only assume that cabinet information was plentiful, and these are cabinet stories at heart. Sadly the author did not digress into related areas of Edison's business spider web ( external to the Phonograph ), which would have, at the very least, been interesting

Perhaps the best part for me was the section of factory photos, showing the various stages of disc production. Fascinating stuff there

Three stars for lack of alternative publications