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WHAT’S SELLING ON eBay
WHAT’S SELLING ON eBay

by Jessica Kosinski

$23,600 (Bids 54, Bidders 17) Antique North American Phonograph $5,228 (Bids 40, Bidders 13) Interesting Blown Three Mold Decanter
Co Edison Class M Cylinder Record Machine Vtg. This auction is for a – Keene Glassworks – Olive Amber Quart. Very interesting blown GIII-
really nice and very rare antique cylinder record phonograph that was 19 olive amber 3 mold decanter. The bottle has what appears to be mold
made by Edison but Licensed by the North American Phonograph “mistakes” with a crooked neck and roughly shaped mouth. Embossing is
Company. The rare piece is an Edison Class M and it has a serial number extremely good however it appears that something happened when this
8385. It has a plaque on the top that indicates it was sold by the North bottle was blown. Pictures show a circular sort of “X” mark in the pattern;
American Phonograph Company and it also has a little plaque simply inside there is glass protruding in a similar pattern. Pictures were taken in
marked Class M. The machine is in good cosmetic condition and was various lights; in low light, it appears olive, in sunlight it appears amber.
found in the basement of a local family. There is no battery, and I am not Other pictures are held up to the light in an attempt to see how the glass
sure how complete this machine appears inside. The issues when the bottle was blown appear to have
is, so take a look at the photos. caused the irregularities in the overall shape as well. Seller: glasshorse
Includes several accessories
including the horn, headphones,
mouthpiece, and more. Note
that all the thin plastic tubes are
completely dry and breaking
apart. The machine is untested.
Seller: bleeding_gums

JK: The pictures mentioned above are not
all used in this article, but the buyer used
multiple pictures to illustrate an interesting
point. Many pieces of glassware appear to be
different colors in different types of lighting.
It’s one of the things that makes certain
glass pieces attractive to collectors. Another
attractive thing to some collectors is seeking out pieces with manufacturing
defects. That is because those pieces are unique. This particular decanter
JK: Thomas Edison (1837-1931) is, with its “crooked neck” and other manufacturing imperfections visibly
of course, one of the most famous stands out as different, which is part of what may have attracted bidders.
inventors in history. One of his most Another attractive point is the origin of the decanter. It was produced
famous inventions was the light bulb. in Keene, New Hampshire. Keene is known as a center for early glass
Another was the phonograph, which making in New England. Several important glass factories operated there.
was used to both record and play back sounds. He patented his phono- One of the earliest made window glass. A short time later came bottles,
graph design for the first time in February 1878. It was based on a process inkwells, and decanters like the one above. The Marlboro Street
of embossing the cylinders. Later, Alexander Graham Bell would improve Glassworks produced many of them. It operated from 1815 until the
upon that design by creating engraved cylinders. Edison himself also kept early 1840s.
making improvements to his own designs. For people who grew up in and around Keene, the rich history of glass
The Class M was a result of several advancements in the technology working in the area makes such pieces particularly interesting historically.
that came about over more than a decade following that 1878 patent. In 2020, The Keene Sentinel published a story about a local glass collector.
In 1890, Edison finally thought the phonograph was ready to be His love affair with Keene Glass started when he was digging in his yard
commercially produced and marketed. That first commercial phonograph and unearthed pieces of Stoddard Glass in the 1960s. He quickly had
design was the Class M. Thus, even though it wasn’t the first, it is one of people lined up to buy them. Stoddard Glass (founded in 1842), it turned
the most desirable models for its place in history. out, was quite rare. He soon went on to learn about and collect other types
Interestingly, this seller also sold two antique phonograph cylinders in of local Keene glass over the following six decades because he felt they had
separate auctions the same week the phonograph above sold. Each of the interesting stories behind them. He and locals like him aren’t alone. Many
auctions had multiple bids (one 18 and one 45). One sold for $6,875.67, Keene glass pieces are prized by museums and private collectors alike across
and another fetched $8,665.77. Although many other phonograph the country.
cylinders have sold recently for $1,000 or more on eBay, rarity, and
condition matter. Some are not worth as much. As far as phonographs
themselves are concerned, they are usually highly prized by collectors, Jessica Kosinski has been a freelance researcher and writer since 2001. She developed a passion for
especially early models. Most of those sold on eBay recently have received 1980s pre-1980s TV and films as a kid, and she has never grown out of it. Recently, she turned
a lot of attention, but they’ve received final bids of less than $2,000 each. that passion into a retro TV and film blog. Follow along with her at medium.com/@jkos_writing,
as she dives deep into the characters, actors, quirks, and trivia that brought us some of the greatest
The one sold in the auction above, being a Class M in the condition it was films and shows in TV history and also discusses some of the more obscure films and shows most of
in, was particularly popular. us may have forgotten.

12 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles