—Earliest known Blow Accordion with 10 keys. Sold!
Very early blow accordion, first half of the 19th century, with 10 ivory keys and two registers. The instrument is unsigned, but believed to be American made. Blow accordions are also called Flute Harmonicas. read more>>
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— Rare, KEY to the AIR, Radio outfit. Sold!
There are probably only two of these radios extant; the antenna to go with this radio is probably the only one extant. Made in Medford Hillside in Massachusetts by Stafford Radio Co., it was meant to be a low cost radio with only one tube and an antenna to be installed indoors for ease of operation. The tuning of the radio-station listened to was obtained by sliding two square sliders, probably not very practical, hence the failure of this radio to make any sales. The inventor and owner of Stafford Radio Co., Stephen F. Stafford made specific claims in his application for his Double Helical Antenna application which were impossible to prove at the time. Despite this, his application was successful and a patent was issued on August 21, 1923. read more>>
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— Sargent & Greenleaf model 4 Safe Time Lock of 1878. Sold!
Exceedingly rare Safe-Time-Lock manufactured by Sargent & Greenleaf in Rochester NY. On page 196, John Erroll states in his book, “American Genius, Nineteenth-Century Bank Locks and Time Locks,” that Sargent made 365 of the fourty-six-hour Model 4, of which fifteen are thought to remain today.
This early version was introduced in 1878 and has two forty-six-hour movements and had white enamel dials. read more>>
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—The only known extant Spencer Electric Co., Potbelly Candlestick Telephone (serial no. 32!) Sold!
Almost impossible to find, a telephone which is unknown to the large and very active community of telephone collectors, the Spencer Potbelly Candlestick Telephone. I could not find a picture or any record in any publication in the field of historic telephony, or on the Internet! The only records I could find are three patents issued to James H. Spencer and Malcolm S. Keyes, both of New York City, N.Y., a description in the Scientific American Supplement issue of January 29, 1898, and a description of the novel transmitter published in the Electrical World and Engineer, Volume 34, page 248.
There are many telphone related patents issued and no actual hardware was ever found; this was true about the US Patents with the numbers 596'834, issued on January 4, 1898, and the consecutive numbers 624'696, and 624'697, both issued on the same day, May 9, 1899, untill this telephone was found to prove that it was actually manufactured. The serial number of 32 is an indication that there where not many made.
This candlestick telephone with the novel form of transmitter patented by Spencer and Keyes was manufactured by the the Spencer Electrical Company, 163 Greenwich Street, New York City, N.Y.
A description of the novel transmitter, published in the Electrical World and Engineer, Volume 34, page 248, states: “The object of the invention is to avoid metallic vibrations, only the intended actual sound being properly transmitted. To accomplish this result, Mr. Spencer employs novel means of supporting the diaphragm,” read more>>
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—Peerless Whittler Pencil Sharpener, with three rotating knifes. Sold!
This is an exceedingly rare version with the three cutting knifes of the Peerless Pencil Pointer. If you are an experienced collector, you know that the last one of these showed up on eBay two years ago with a buy it now price of $950.00. The machine sold as soon as it was listed.
Whittler applied for a patent and started manufacturing before the patent issued. In short order, he first manufactured a machine with just one rotating knife, then two, and finally three. The patent never issued and Whittler had to seize production, hence, the machine is very scarce, read more>>
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—Rare, and in fine condition, H. H. Scott model LK-150 Stereo HiFi Vacuum Tube Power Amplifier in perfect working order. Sold!
The pinnacle of HiFi design with vacuum tube technology, the legendary Power Amplifier model LK-150 designed by H.H. Scott in the early 1960's. Producing 75 Watts RMS per channel, this amplifier is a beast! This amplifier comes with its original instruction booklet and other original documentation, read more>>
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—Early version (serial # 160!) of the 1921 three bank Noiseless Portable Typewriter in very good condition. Sold!
This rare machine has the second lowest serial number of any known Noiseless Portable Typewriter there is; the serial number is 160! In the first year of production in 1921, only 200 of these machines were manufactured and these machines are different than the machines builtin the following three years before Remington bought the company, read more>>
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—Civil War Area Pocket Soprano Cornet in Eb with Top-Action Rotary Valves. Sold!
The soprano cornet is a brass musical instrument and considered the top of the score in brass bands. Very similar to the standard Bb cornet, it too is a transposing instrument, but pitched higher (a forth), in Eb.
A single soprano cornet was usually seen in brass bands during the civil war and played lead or descant parts in ensembles.
This rare unsigned instrument which retains its original wooden carrying case dates to around 1860 and features early top-action rotary valves, typical for that time. read more>>
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—Exceedingly rare, maybe the only one extant, CORONET Base Burner Stove. Sold!
This rare stove is called CORONET, and was manufactured by Thomas, Roberts, Stevenson, Co., in Philadelphia, PA, and is a very early base burner stove based on a patent issued in 1874. Base burner stoves from the 1870´s are basically none extant; the only images I could find were images on trade-cards or images out of sales-catalogs from the time.
This very rare and impossible to find base burner stove has ten doors with a total of 25 Mica windows and is a truly illuminated or radiant stove.
Approximately 145 year old, this stove is in surprisingly good condition and all complete and original, including the finial. The fine castings are crafted in the Eastlake style and are of superior quality. read more>>
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