The Cheney Talking Machine

A True Musical Instrument

“The longer you play it the sweeter it grows”

This is a work-in-progress. I am transcribing two vintage Cheney Talking Machine brochures. These contain a wealth of information about The Cheney Talking Machine, its unique features, and the many models produced.

• The Cheney — How a Remarkable Series of Inventions has Revolutionized the Art of Tone Reproduction

  36-page Brochure (copyright 1920)

• The Story of The Cheney—the most perfect music-reproducing instrument made

  20-page Brochure (no date)

• Music Culture at the Roycroft

  Advertisement for Forest Cheney teaching Violin

  November 1909 issue of Elbert Hubbards' The Fra

• While the mechanisms were manufactured by Cheney at their factory in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the cabinets were manufactured by a number of companies including:

  • Berkey & Gay
  • Lyon & Healy

• Cheney Talking Machines were sold through Marshall Field & Company.

Other Sources of Information about The Cheney Talking Machine

Tim Gracyk’s Phonographs, Singers, and Old Records — The Cheney Talking Machine

Birth of the Victrola Clones

Cheney Phonograph Manual—Instructions For Assembling and Operating The Cheney

The Talking Machine Forum

Advertisement for Cheney Talking Machine

The Federal reporter, Volume 278 By District of Columbia. Court of Appeals, United States. Commerce Court, United States. Circuit Court of Appeals, United States. District Courts, United States. Circuit Courts

Tiny House: Cheney Talking Machine — Style 112 Modern Georgian

The Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco—Where Our Ancestors Bought Phonographs and 78s