GRAMOPHONE GURU

My father bought me my first gramophone from a jumble sale in 1963 and gave it to me, aged five, as a cheap toy. Then my grandfather showed me how to take it apart properly, clean all the component parts and put it back together again and then - oh what magic - it worked! I was hooked, and for the next 15 years indulged in a fairly quirky hobby, collecting gramophones and the 78 RPM records to go with them, for pocket money... By the 1980s gramophones were ceasing to be regarded as old junk, making the transition to collectable antiques. Antique dealers quickly realised that one that worked was worth a lot more than one that didn't, and I realised that I had a saleable skill to offer. After a few years working for other traders I started my own shop at Alfies' Antique Market in London, under the name ‘The Gramophone and Wireless Shop.'... The late 80s were a golden age for buying, restoring and selling mechanical antiques, but by 1992 the supply of machines from sale rooms and junk..

Primary location: Chichester United Kingdom