Wm. Bohne & Co., 89-91 Niagara Street, Toronto, was one of Canada's most successful piano-supply establishments, specializing in piano strings and hammer coverings, together with boring, wiring and other hammer work. Established in 1891, the company was at 516 West Richmond Street by 1912 and incorporated as W. Bohne Co. Ltd. by 1926. It continued to appear in the federal government's lists of Canadian manufacturers of musical-instrument materials as late as 1944.
On March 20, 1900, William Bohne applied for a U.S. patent on a device of his invention titled simply "Phonograph". U.S. patent No. 657,280 was issued to William Bohne, of Toronto, Canada on September 4, 1900.
In later advertising the device was more specifically described as a "Combination" phonograph designed to play both large- and small-diameter cylinders. The large mandrel fitted over the smaller mandrel, allowing the machine to be converted between the two record sizes. The patent said that its purpose was to simplify changing between cylinders of different diameters while maintaining the correct position and angle of the reproducer.
Bohne & Co. sold both complete machines and the "tops" or upper mechanisms separately, the latter being adaptable to Edison Home-type motors. The patent described the invention as applicable to either electric or spring motors and that the support could accommodate the well-known types of recorders and reproducers. The patent drawing illustrated an Edison reproducer.
The principal innovations of the invention were:
- an adjustable recorder/reproducer arm that could be raised or lowered to accommodate cylinders of different diameters;
- an eccentrically pivoted guide rod carrying the arm;
- two different levels of track supporting the free end of the arm;
- a hinged upper track that could be moved out of the way;
- an adjustable recorder/reproducer holder to maintain the proper stylus angle;
- and, particularly interesting, a removable cylindrical sleeve or bushing that fitted over the ordinary small-diameter mandrel to accommodate the larger cylinder.
In 1899, the company brought out the Type HG Home Grand, priced at $100, which was eventually reduced to $50.
In 1901, Columbia introduced combination machines such as the AB and AD, using a telescoping mandrel that allowed them to play both the large Grand cylinders and ordinary 2-inch cylinders.
The format was not particularly successful as a mass-market home format. The 5-inch records were expensive and cumbersome, and the improved standard cylinders that appeared in 1902 substantially reduced the advantage of the Grand format. Columbia nevertheless offered a surprisingly large range of Grand machines for several years.
Bohne had conceived and patented the combination principle before the introduction of Columbia's 1901 combination machines. However, more evidence is needed to establish when the actual Bohne Combination was offered for sale. Bohne advertised both a complete Combination machine as well as an attachment and could represent an independent Canadian development of the dual-size-cylinder machine, contemporaneous with or possibly preceding Columbia's commercial combination models.
It is unlikely that Bohne tried to establish a large independent phonograph factory. A more likely scenario is that he marketed a limited number of machines or separate phonograph mechanisms through his existing music-industry business.
Canadian Music Trades Journal, November 1901, p. 28.
U.S. patent No. 657,280 issued September 4, 1900 to William Bohne, of the city of Toronto, in the county of York and Province of Ontario.
Canadian Music Trades Journal, November 1901, p. 19. Note that the machine "has been put on the market" and that "these machines complete or tops separate are for sale to all dealers in musical merchandise". It does not indicate that they were sold at retail to the public.
Although the report says that the machine "is covered by both Canadian and foreign patents", no Canadian patent has been found.
Canadian Music Trades Journal, November 1901, p. 24.
Canadian Music Trades Journal, September 1904, p. 17.
