Turn of the Century Entertainment and things they may need to stay functional (for the novice)

Family listening to radio

In 1900, the average worker made 12.98 a week for 59 hours, compare that to todays 7.00 an hour. As you can see from the figures above, most people of this era did not have very much money to spend on luxeries, almost every dime they made went toward the bare necessities. So it is fair to say that that is why we don't see alot of antiques today in regards to entertainment. When you do see these things, most of the time they are in need of atleast some kind of repair. For phonographs, this might include a full cleaning and lubing of the motor, or refinishing the cabinet, although some phonograph collectors tend to just leave the cabinets in as is condition for originality's sake. Other things like books, may need to have there bindings reglued because of rough handling or poor storage over the years. If you are not comfortable doing these things yourself, you can employ someone more qualified for the job, but at a much greater cost, as opposed to if you just learned how to do it yourself. Join me Friday for steps on how to properly disassemble a phonograph motor and lube it.