Columbia Graphophone Type BKT



This article is part of the ANTIQUE PHONOGRAPH, GRAMOPHONE AND TALKING MACHINE IDENTIFICATION GUIDES.
SEE ALSO: Our listings of outside horn talking machines for sale.


The Columbia BK was an entry level machine competing in price and style with the Edison Standard Phonograph. In 1907 Columbia had a flash of insight: if a back bracket and hollow tone arm could improve a disc machine, why not mount such an assembly on a cylinder Graphophone? A series of Columbia models including the BE, BF. BG and BK were retrofitted with the new apparatus adapted from the disc Graphophone, and the letter T was added to the model identification, probably standing for Tonearm.


Columbia Graphophone Type BKT
Note the telescoping adapter, often missing on surviving examples, between the tone arm and the reproducer.
Orlando Antique Phonograph Show, Courtesy Richard Brown. .
Larger image
Columbia BKT combination switch
By the time of this machine, around 1910, Columbia was trying to escape from the cylinder business. Nonetheless, a few machines such as this were fitted with combination gearing to accomodate the four minute records. Here's the switch on the right that controls the gear change.
Columbia BKT gearing
And here's the combination gearing. Razor thin, it was prone to wear and wobble.

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