See-a-Song

[50dispatch]

My mother has a phonograph, possibly from the early 1950s, that she says it is called a See-a-Song.  (Sorry; I don't have a picture available).  It's in a pink case and opens up to reveal a turntable on the right side and a lighted, carousel-type instrument on the left.  On the "carousel" you put a paper lamp-shade-style piece of paper with cartoon characters on it, that correspond to the song.  While the record plays, the carousel turns and the paper shade makes a sort-of animation to go along with the song.  Each See-a-Song record came with its own shade.  Does anyone know where I can find information on rarity, value, manufacturer, etc?  I live several hours away from my mother and, understandably, she doesn't want to ship it to me so I can take it to an antique shop.  She is disabled and can't take it herself.  She isn't interested in selling it since it was a gift from her father when she was little; she is only interested in more information on the machine.

Thanks for any information you can offer.

[rtrethewey]

I was only able to find one reference to this phonograph player in Google.  It was an auction listing that mentioned a date of 1955, but there was no pricing information.

The general description reminds me of a phonograph player that a friend of mine had when I was growing up at that time.  His player had a special mirrored spindle that sat on top of the records as they played.  The records had special pictures printed on the labels that would be reflected in the spindle as a form of animation where the characters would dance or ride around like a merry-go-round.  There was a very old method of animation device called an "something-odeon" or "something-opticon".... drat!  I just can't remember the term.  Anyway, they worked like a flip book, but it was a cicular medium that would play a short loop over and over.  So these sorts of players did have a run of popularity, it would seem.

I don't know the value of such a player.  I'm sure it would be critical that the player work and have at least one complete record and picture set.  If it did, I wouldn't be surprised if it were worth $100-200.00, but that's just a guess.  Good luck!