PhonoFocus - The Mandel #3

[roaring20s]

PHONOGRAPHA OBSCURA

MAKER: The Mandel - one of the many little known makers of phonographs.
Mandel Manufacturing Company, 501 Laflin Street, Chicago, Illinois. August 1916.
(Trademark filed 5/3/1919; used since 11/1915.)
Obtained from: www.gracyk.com/makers.shtml
By R.J. Wakeman (With Trademark Information Supplied By Allan Sutton)

Edward Schwartz's and Louis Mandel's names are listed on patent document.


MODEL: #3 in Tiger Oak

SERIAL #: 17358

YEARS: 1916 - 1921(?)
This unit is pictured in the 1919 Furniture World ad below.

ORIGINAL COSTS:
1916 - $90 (add $15 for electric motor)*
1917 - $100**
1919 - $150***

CABINET SIZE: 23w x 24d x 49h

TURNTABLE: 12"

REPRODUCER/SOUNDBOX:
As advertised with a universal tone arm**

MOTOR: Two spring

HORN DIMENSIONS: Internal horn opens to 19w x 10h

REPRO PARTS: None

INTERESTING FACTS:
In 1921 they sold records under the Mandel Label.
Does anyone have a photo to add and/or a record to sell to me?
You can read a little about that in the Encyclopedia of Recorded Sound
by Hoffman
books.google.com/books?id=xV6tghvO0oMC&pg=PA649&lpg=PA649&dq=1921

FAVORITE CHARACTERISTICS:
This is a well made piece of furniture.
Nothing cheap about it. It is a workhorse and plays just fine.
The tone arm and reproducer has a classic Art Deco / Modernistic design.

OTHER INFORMATION: Advertising in Talking Machine World ended in 1921.‡
The record storage originally had slots for 50 records. Disassembled and still with the machine.
There is no relation to Mandel Brothers, one of Chicago's leading department stores.

*from August 1916 Talking Machine World page 74‡
**from April 1917 Talking Machine World page 76‡
*** from a 1919 Mandel catalog for the Oak #3, Walnut #3 was $175 with gold plated hardware‡
‡ thanks to RJ Wakeman for this information, but not for outbidding me on that Mandel catalog in 2004.

Here is the cover of Furniture World magazine form Sept. 4, 1919.

Furniture World, Vol. L, Thursday, September 4, 1919, No. 1275
As digitized by Google Book Search
books.google.com/books?id=HWooAAAAYAAJ&pg=PP7&lpg=PP7&dq=%22Furniture

Patent diagrams taken from United States Patent and Trademark Office:


To see more of this go these...
patimg2.uspto.gov/.piw?Docid=01321559&idkey=NONE
patimg2.uspto.gov/.piw?Docid=01322997&idkey=NONE

From the 1919 catalog
(pictured may actually be the #9 at the $200 level)


The Grand Rapids Furniture Record.
An article from 1919 about phonograph sales in general.
..."The furniture business is the best adapted of any to handle the phonograph. Still, furniture dealers in many small towns have allowed druggists, dry goods dealers, and in some cases hardware dealers to take away from them this highly profitable and pleasant business."...

digitized by Google Book Search, to see it all go to...
books.google.com/books?id=3W0oAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA240&lpg=PA240&dq=%22Mandel








Add all the information you have about this company to this thread. If any of this information is off base, please add a correction.

Start your thread about these little known phonographs. Look at yours. Is it a mystery machine. The information will fade away if you do not record it in one place. Comb the internet. You may not find much information, but any basic information and a photo is enough to get the ball rolling.

James.

[Moooperator]

Thanks Roar! Beautiful cabinet... it kind of reminds me of the early Victor XIV with a rather square top and Queen Anne legs.

You have a ton of great documentation too.

[phonogfp]

Nicely documented! Interesting machine, too. It does have that early Victrola XIV look!

George P.

[roaring20s]

Here is company logo.

and a link to view a comparison of the Mandel body style to that of the Victor VV-XIV
www.victor-victrola.com/XIV.htm
Thanks for that observation.

James.

[roaring20s]

MordEth posted this Craigslisting he found
forum.talkingmachine.info/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=804
A Puri-tone Phonograph... It sure looks like The Mandel.
The grill is upside down. The lid is resting on the wall. The bar that holds the lid open seems to be missing. This unit shows the record rack that I stowed away.

The logo plate is different. Someone added it? Mandel sold their machines to other companies? A mystery to investigate.

James.

[roaring20s]

Jeff added
www.myoldphonograph.com/
to the forum.

It has a section that proud owners of phonographs can show off what they have. Here you can find a few less common manufacturers in talking machines. Pictured are a Maytrola, Hart, Phoenix and Universal.

This link will also assist with the identification of fakes and crap-o-phones.

[MTPhono]

Very nice presentation of a nice upright! I love all the clear pictures, ads and patent information.

This Mandel reminds me a little of the Columbia A100 upright - one of my favorite machines.

I am not certain who Jeff is but I REALLY like his website. The layout and graphics are beautiful. I'll have to dive further into his site as time permits.

Thanks for the unique and interesting PhonoFocus! Keep 'em coming.

[roaring20s]

This link describes the last comparison.
www.montanaphonograph.com/gallery/ColA100.html
I have had montanaphonograph.com as a jumping off point for my phonograph explorations for a long time.

Thanks for chiming in on the topic. I appreciate it.

The noted A100 has extra style that says "look at me". Very nice.

This has given me an idea to start another topic. One that will be more interactive for others to join in on.

[roaring20s]

jnorman111 of the Talking Machine Forum posted photos of his phonograph tagged as the Fox Phonograph. The Mandel must have had a lot of stock after going out of business. I will keep adding the incarnations here and its history will develop. I have ask one of our members to add this post's link to that forum. With their moderator situation, I have had limited success getting posted as a guest.

forum.talkingmachine.info/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3874



PS: Mandel made records too. If anyone has one to sell, let me know. One would look great on my patter.

James.