General Information

Serial #

N/A

Part Number

1

Total Parts

1

AKA

Cremonaphone

Patents

N/A

General Description

Unknown

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

45.5 cm

Width

51.8 cm

Height

38.0 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Communications

Category

Sound

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Amherst

Country

Canada

State/Province

Nova Scotia

City

Amherst

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Unknown

Period

Unknown

Canada

The cremonaphone is an early twentieth century disc-based record player made in Canada. Seven models were produced by manufacturer Amherst Pianos Ltd, in Amherst, Nova Scotia, starting in 1917 (Brooks,1998). It is presently unknown how many Cremonaphones were manufactured and sold before the company went bankrupt in 1928.

Function

To reproduce sound recorded on a 78 RPM disc.

Technical

This is a fairly standard record player of the period. According to Canadian historian Edward Moogk, the name Cremonaphone was meant to evoke " the new violin idea, resulting in the most pleasing results in the quality and volume of tone " (1975, p.64). Cremona is the name of a city in Italy that is known as the birthplace of master violin makers like Antonio Stradivari, and is considered by some to be the " birthplace of the modern violin " (Silva, n.d.). As Brooks notes, a deluxe model was released in 1921 that " incorporated a new patented sound box based on the Stradivarius principle " (Brooks, 1998, n.p). See Wright (n.d.) for a scan of a 1921 Cremonaphone ad featuring similar language.

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

On the manufacturer marking on the interior of the lid: " CREMONAPHONE /. AMHERST /. PIANOS /. LIMITED /. AMHERST, N.S. " On the rectangular plate on the main surface of the player: " DONATED TO /. THE NATIONAL LIBRARY /. BY /. VINCENT DURANT /. JUNE 1974 " On the small circular dial next to the circular pad: " FAST /. SLOW "

Missing

Appears complete.

Finish

Player with a brown varnished wooden exterior. The lid of the player opens with the help of two black metal hinges. The interior of the player has silver coloured metal arm and a green circular felt pad. The main black wooden surface has some chipped sections where the bare wood is exposed. The crank handle has some noticeable discoloration due to wear and tear.

Decoration

N/A