Berliner Gramophone - Ratchet



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.


Lever wind Berliner of 1897, commonly refered to by collectors as the Ratchet Berliner. A patent application for this type of motor was filed by Levi Montross of Camden, NJ, in 1896.

When Berliner's distributor Frank Seaman had almost sold out of circular metal case (Tin Can) machines, he put in an order with Eldridge Johnson for 3500 wood box, Montross Berliners.* With this machine, the motor elements of the Gramophone begin to be enclosed within an attractive wooden case.

This machine was succeeded by the Improved Gramophone of 1897, with a motor of Eldridge Johnson's own design.

*Koenigsberg, Allen. Patent History of the Phonograph


Berliner Gramophone
Side view showing the sliding ratchet, rathern than a crank.Orlando Antique Phonograph Show, Courtesy Kevin Boerma
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Montross Berliner
These machines are often seen with a Clark-Johnson reproducer
In a few years the hump from the mainspring would be gone as it would become customary to contain the entire motor in the case.
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