Donation Items
Since opening in 2019, the Music Makers Museum has been enriched by the generosity of our donors, who have contributed some truly remarkable items. However, to ensure that we can continue to preserve and showcase these treasures, we must carefully manage our donations in light of our limited space and budget. This page is designed to answer common questions about donations. We greatly appreciate your interest in supporting the mission!
Donor Kathryn Olson returned a 1918 Meteor Phonograph to Ohio. It had been in her family since its original purchase.
UPS Man delivers five boxes of donations from Illinois to
the Music Makers Museum.
Donation Item Policy
· Due to a limited budget and space, we can only accept items related to our themes as donations. See the list of our themes.
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· Donated items are shipped at the donor’s expense or delivered in person to the Music Makers Museum.
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· We are a “business for nonprofit,” so we cannot give receipts for tax write-offs. (Business for nonprofit means we aim to cover operational costs and preserve the collection for future generations.)
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· Our primary focus is hand-crank phonographs and their media, so we do not accept electric record players or stereos.
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· Due to limited space, we no longer accept vinyl collections or records after the 1930s.
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· We kindly ask that you complete a short donation form, providing the history of the items and acknowledging that this is a permanent donation to the museum.
Accepting Donations in the following areas:
· Cylinder Phonographs and Cylinders Records
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· Coin-operated Cylinder Phonographs
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· Edison Diamond Disk C19, C250
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· Edison Diamond Disk Records
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· Phonograph Machines with Horns Before 1910
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· Photograph Horns
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· Nipper Items
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· Phonograph Needle Tins
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· Phonograph advertisements Before 1920s
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· Phonograph parts or rough phonographs that could be dismantled for parts
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· Original Items of Thomas Edison
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· Items of Early Recording Artists, such as Ada Jones, Cal Stuart, etc.
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· Old Original Pictures of Phonographs
Collage of accepted items at the Music Makers Museum.
Before
Grow the Vision
Your donation could be the missing piece that completes our collection. If we are not a good fit for your items, we suggest you contact your local museum or antique shop dealers. Look for record shops or vinyl dealers at antique malls. Vinyl records are coming back, so there is a market for them.
Your contribution to the Music Makers Museum could play a vital role in preserving these historical artifacts. The museum will be preserved long after Charlotte and Rodney Pack are gone. Please get in touch with us if you want us to consider your donation after reading our guidelines.
If emailing, please provide the model, year (if you know it), and some pictures. The pictures help us determine if your donation fits the museum well. Thank you for considering the Music Makers Museum! Please click here to contact us.
"Restoring the phonographs will keep them going for another 100 years so the culture of record collecting and this technology will not be lost."
Phonograph Restorer Rodney Pack
After
Donated Home Phonograph before and after
Rodney’s meticulous restoration.
