I talked about the restoration of my horn in an earlier blog post, but here’s the finished product. This took me long enough, but I was waiting for a good time to actually take video of my horn in action. And the longer I waited, the more I kept noticing that each time I pick up my camera, it’s too dark out, or too bright, or too busy, or the baby was crying, or my iPod wasn’t charged enough to play on the horn or, or, or..
So today, as the tropic storm from Hurricane Karen rolled in, I finally grabbed a short little video of the antique phonograph horn player my husband made for me before Tessa was born. (You can hear the rain in the background, which is perfectly fitting, since rain moves me to cuddle up by the horn in my wingback chairs on the balcony, listening to Al Bowlly and guzzling ungodly amounts of coffee.)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWBcRtQuYW4&feature=youtu.be]
The construction of this bad boy is really quite simple. We got the night stand off of Craigslist back when we went on our “furnish our apartment” spree in early August. The guy was getting rid of furniture and throwing his random household goods around for $20 a pop. So we snagged the end table without any real thought as to how we’d use it. It wasn’t until I placed my horn on the table on accident that the light bulb went off.
Jonathan set to work on this thing right away, and from start to finish, it took him roughly 10 minutes to make it. I’m not even joking. He basically drilled a hole through the top of the table, and stuck the horn in snugly. On the underside of the horn, using random plastic plumbing tubing, he connected a portable iPhone speaker. The speaker has cords to connect to iPhone / CD / USB, so it’s versatile in what it can play. And voila! A beautiful, functioning antique phonograph iPod player and a lovely piece of furniture to boot! You just pull out the drawer, plug in your iPod or CD player or whatever, and press play! AND! The table makes a lovely place to put your coffee as you’re humming along to some turn of the century phat beats, yo.
Speaking of phat beats, I’d like to share my:
Top 5 Songs To Listen To On A Phonograph Horn
Looking On The Bright Side by Al Bowlly
You’re The Cream In My Coffee by Ruth Etting
Moonlight Serenade by Glenn Miller
When You Wish Upon A Star by Cliff Edwards
Let me know what you think of my top 5 picks, and drop a line letting me know what YOU would recommend! I’m all for swapping mix-tapes. ^_^
I love it! So clever!!
Thanks!
That is awesome!
You gotta get some Frank Sinatra or Michael Buble (I know I botched that…) blasting from that horn.
I actually have a couple different “Phonograph Horn” mixes on my iPod, haha..
Oh my goodness. I thought I didn’t need anything for Christmas. After seeing this I absolutely feel envy for like the first time ever. That is sooo cool! Only you two wonderful people would think of something so unique, beautiful and creative.
I don’t know if you know Santa or not but if you do just drop a hint. lol
Oh my goodness. I thought I didn’t need anything for Christmas. After seeing this I absolutely feel envy for like the first time ever. That is sooo cool! Only you two wonderful people would think of something so unique, beautiful and creative.
I don’t know if you know Santa or not but if you do just drop a hint. lol
It looks like people are actually selling these on Etsy! 😉
I love it! It’s beautiful! What a clever idea.
I’m so glad you had a wonderful visit with your dad!
Thank you!!
Gingi, That is a great idea which, if you don’t mind, am going to utilize. I have a RCA Victor freestanding windup player that my father gave me 44 years ago. Adding a bluetooth speaker into the horn will be easy. Finally, music without the spring winding. Thanks for sharing.
Go for it!!!
Ok, I did it. Removed the tone arm on the old Victrola and placed my iHome bluetooth speaker over the hole and it works. Very cool sounding big band from Pandora. Again, Thanks for the idea.
Oh wow, post pictures!! I’m excited to see it!
Ok. I will try and get pics soon. I used a iHome iDM9 bluetooth coffee cup speaker. It sounds so 1920’s. My wife and I even had a dance to it. Thanks again and God Bless!
My husband and I danced to ours as well! It’s terribly romantic! Look forward to seeing it.. God bless!
That made me very nostalgic for Disneyland and Indiana Jones! How many hours have spent in that line in the rain as you kids grew up? Very proud of you both for getting/making the things that make a house a home. Tessa is gonna grow up knowing much more than most kids…with broader horizons and ‘sky’s the limit’ thinking. Love it.
I certainly hope so!! Love you momma!
I am going to be a bit selfish here and say that I hope you are stationed in norfolk some time lol
Haha, thats actually where everyone in Jonathans class is being sent! So it’s extremely likely…