Late last month, I traveled to Houston for the Nichols family portrait shoot. While there, I was able to visit some old friends who work in the energy industry by day and run a vintage shop, specializing in phonographs, by night (and weekend). Bob and his wife Kathy, owners of Vintage Sounds, have a most serendipitous story.
Collecting phonographs and other musical fancies from the turn of the century started while Bob was on a business trip to Waco, Texas about 30 years ago. At a routine gas station stop in the middle of the Texas plain (Heidenheimer, TX, to be exact), Bob glanced out into the horizon and spotted a junk shop. As he approached the counter of the shop, an older fellow in coveralls emerged and greeted Bob with “I have exactly what you need.” Wondering what in the world that could be, Bob’s ears perked up. The man presented Bob with a box filled with a bunch of rusty wires describing it as “...an original Edison phonograph,” and it was experimental. According to Bob, "It showed characteristics of having been a prototype for the second model of the Edison 'Gem' phonograph that came out about 1901."
At the time, Bob purchased the phonograph for $19.60 which is all he had in cash and promised to send the junk shop owner the balance on his $25.00 tab. He packed it into his car and went on his merry way back to his family in the Houston area. Thirty years later, Bob and Kathy run Vintage Sounds which is still in operation Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at Market Place Antiques. You can learn more by visiting their Facebook business page.
Collecting phonographs and other musical fancies from the turn of the century started while Bob was on a business trip to Waco, Texas about 30 years ago. At a routine gas station stop in the middle of the Texas plain (Heidenheimer, TX, to be exact), Bob glanced out into the horizon and spotted a junk shop. As he approached the counter of the shop, an older fellow in coveralls emerged and greeted Bob with “I have exactly what you need.” Wondering what in the world that could be, Bob’s ears perked up. The man presented Bob with a box filled with a bunch of rusty wires describing it as “...an original Edison phonograph,” and it was experimental. According to Bob, "It showed characteristics of having been a prototype for the second model of the Edison 'Gem' phonograph that came out about 1901."
At the time, Bob purchased the phonograph for $19.60 which is all he had in cash and promised to send the junk shop owner the balance on his $25.00 tab. He packed it into his car and went on his merry way back to his family in the Houston area. Thirty years later, Bob and Kathy run Vintage Sounds which is still in operation Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at Market Place Antiques. You can learn more by visiting their Facebook business page.
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