Our Sawdust Sirens are old style acoustic amplifiers for your new phone's speaker. Simply put your phone in and have a listen.

Born in 1884, Nipper was some sort of Terrier who was puzzled by the fact that sound could come out of an inanimate object. Nipper died in 1895 and was buried in London on a site that is now a Lloyd’s Bank branch that has a plaque commemorating him.

Nipper’s second owner Francis, brother of the deceased first owner, painted a picture of Nipper listening to an Edison phonograph, which would have had a horn similar to this one. He called the painting ‘His Master’s Voice.’ Francis thought the Edison company across the pond in NJ might be interested, but Edison’s British rep told him that dogs don’t listen to music. The founder of The Gramophone Company, one of Edison’s competitors, saw the painting and said: “if you paint over that ugly black Edison phonograph with one of my shiny brass ones, I’ll buy it.”

That happened. The Gramophone Company became the Victor Talking Machine Company and then RCA. Nipper became an iconic and lasting emblem for the brand and was also used by HMV, EMI, and Deutsche Grammophon – although he started as an Edison model. Francis was paid £100 for his efforts.

This “Standard” Edison Phonograph Horn has 10 convex petals and its original decal. Siren #312 stands approximately 33.5” tall with a 19” bell. This type of horn would have been used with an Edison cylinder phonograph with a support crane. The base is made from reclaimed white oak beam and finished with Betty’s Board Butter (beeswax & mineral oil). You may wish to re-oil your base occasionally.

If your phone has stereo options you may want to play around with mono and stereo settings to see which you prefer. Please let us know if you have a plus sized phone.

We highly suggest the pick up option as it is very costly to ship.