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Re: Harper’s Volta? Electric shock
Posted: Tue Oct 08, 2019 6:54 pm
by pennymachines
OK - so using our
Archives/Patent search I've found the New Polyphon Supply Company's 1902 patent
GB190207860
This is clearly our machine. Helpfully, it even shows a nice little shaped pediment on top, not unlike the EH example. New Polyphon were located at 2 Newman Street, London, but more significantly, co-patentee Karl Schmidt (Mechanic) had an address at 86 Fairbridge Road, Upper Holloway, London, N., less than one and a half miles from Harper's.
Another shocker on page 150 of Automatic Pleasures is the not entirely dissimilar circa 1905
Electron, also by New Polyphon Supply.
Re: New Polyphon Supply shocker identified
Posted: Tue Oct 08, 2019 8:17 pm
by 13rebel
Re: New Polyphon Supply shocker identified
Posted: Tue Oct 08, 2019 11:20 pm
by JC
This is all wonderful, but not helping me much....... I was the under bidder and I wish I'd bid a little bit higher.
Re: New Polyphon Supply shocker identified
Posted: Wed Oct 09, 2019 2:47 am
by john t peterson
I am pleased by not shocked by this erudite investigation. Well done, Chaps.
J Peterson
in America
Re: New Polyphon Supply shocker identified
Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2019 12:32 pm
by treefrog
Nice one Mr Pm......
Little Black Country boy
Re: New Polyphon Supply shocker identified
Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2019 12:07 am
by dickywink
Excuse my Investigative behaviour ....
But is the one posted by Paul and the one posted by PM from EH action exactly the same machine but with a bit of timber added on top?
It seems to me that the wood grains and markings are exactly the same.
- PM.jpg (26.49 KiB) Viewed 5407 times
- paul.jpg (26.76 KiB) Viewed 5407 times
Evenin' All,
Detective Inspector Dicky Wink
Re: New Polyphon Supply shocker identified
Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2019 9:49 am
by pennymachines
Well spotted. Was the pediment your handiwork, Paul? It certainly looks the part.
Re: New Polyphon Supply shocker identified
Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2019 1:03 pm
by paul
Hi all.
The coin entry I made, also the cashbox door. The top pediment was with the machine. The pictures were taken as I was assembling and waxing the cabinet. The machine was bought in Shropshire a few years ago in original condition. That's all I know of it.
Re: New Polyphon Supply shocker identified
Posted: Sat Oct 12, 2019 11:23 am
by pennymachines
Ah, thanks. Mystery solved. I see from the light mark, and screw holes on the wood around it, that the coin slot was originally the same shape as the ebay example.
Re: Harper’s Volta? Electric shock
Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2020 1:00 pm
by joerg_gm
pennymachines wrote: ↑Tue Oct 08, 2019 5:42 pm
OK Gameswat, so it seems more likely it's British.
Unfortunately Nic doesn't state where his image of the Electric Volta was from, so we can only guess that the original source included the D. Harper & Co. attribution. Paul Braithwaite cites this page of Nic's book as his source. I assume Paul had some reason to believe Harper was probably only a distributor as Nic did not say so.
Hi.
This machine was produced by "E.G.Lochmann & Co., Leipzig" around 1899-1902 as "Volta". In the year 1903 Lochmann's company went bankrupt and was re-founded as „Jentzsch & Meerz". They continued to build Volta-shockers (Volta 2 - 1904, Volta 3 - 1927, ...):
Both companies, Lochmann and Jentzsch & Meerz, produced a lot of machines for export.
Here is a German-version of the NPSC-shocker also labeled as "Volta"