When I was cutting my teeth in the hobby (circa 1967), the copy of FTFTS at the Louisville library, as well as the copy at the Ft. Knox library, had been stolen. Ft. Knox did have a copy of The Fabulous Phonograph which I checked out repeatedly (I was the only one who had ever checked it out and it had been in circulation since the 1950's). Eventually, I purchased it at a library book sale courtesy of a friendly lbrarian who knew I was the only one who ever checked it out. Anyway, the only copy of FTFTS I had access to, belonged to a crusty old antiques dealer downtown on Market Street named Henry Sexton. His window was painted "H. Sexton Antiques/Clocks/Watches/Phonographs/Music Boxes" and he had been there forever. He would allow me to stand there and look through his first-edition copy for hours. Henry never let me buy anything from him. He would have something I liked and when I would ask him how much, he would tell me it was not for sale. The next time I'd visit the shop, it would be gone. I never pried a single solitary thing from him! Once I screwed up the courage to make him a cash offer for a Columbia BC. He never said a word, just opened the top left drawer of his roll-top desk, removed a cloth bag, and dumped several gold coins out onto the desk, scooped them back into the bag, replaced it and closed the drawer. I had a friend in town with a vast collection of music boxes and band organs who had known Henry for years. I asked him to try to buy the BC from him for me, and even he was unsuccessful. Eventually, according to Henry, "a man from Chicago" came down and got it. Apparently, you had to be from out of town to impress old Henry. Later, I found out that the "man from Chicago" was actually a phono dealer friend of mine from New York (name withheld to protect the guilty) who decided to come down and try to buy it after I told him my predicament, and then unilaterally decided it would be in both of our best interests if I didn't know what went down. No hard feelings to Henry or my old friend (great seeing you at Union this year!). After all, ultimately it's just merch, and intrigue is what makes the world go around. Sorry for the palaver here, but FTFTS triggered all those memories. Henry is long gone and his old cast-iron front building is replaced with a modern structure. I have a first edition of FTFTS that originally belonged to Elmer Moore, whose name should be familiar to old-school Southern California collectors. Elmer incribed it with his name, and when he got old, gave it to Ken Blazier, who inscribed it with his name. When Ken sold his collection, I was honored that he gave it to me. John M > From: TAEdisonJR at aol.com > Date: Sun, 18 Nov 2007 11:28:52 -0500 > Subject: Re: [Phono-L] Tinfoil To Stereo > To: phono-l at oldcrank.org > > Ah, "From Tinfoil to Stereo"! What memories that brings back. My parents > gave me a copy for Christmas 1962. I still have that book, well-worn, as well as > a photo my mother took as I unwrapped it. I guess I was a pretty strange 13 > year-old because that was a very exciting gift, though a tad less than the > Edison Standard and morning glory horn I also got that year. > > I can't even count how many times I read the book. As George Paul pointed > out, it was full of errors (though it took me a while to realize it) and had an > almost painfully pro-Edison slant. That in itself wasn't so bad, what was > hard to take was the portrayal of anything and anyone related to Columbia as > being the very personification of evil. Even to a young teenager that bias was a > bit too blatant to be believable, and it became tiresome. > > But the pictures were the heart of the book for all collectors in the 1960s. > Whenever a machine was bought or sold, a reference to "Tinfoil to Stereo" > would be made to help identify it. > > I still look back at my first edition from time to time, but when I do it's > always with a mix of nostalgia and relief. I'm so glad we have such a vast > wealth of accurate and well-illustrated books to refer to now. Especially, of > course, the inimitable series by Tim and George. > > Best regards, > Rene Rondeau > > > > ************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com > _______________________________________________ > Phono-L mailing list > http://phono-l.oldcrank.org