About the society
WIMAPS is a hobbyist club for people who collect, restore, play, and study antique phonographs — the Edison cylinder machines, Victor Victrolas, Columbia graphophones, and other talking machines that first put recorded sound in the home.
Who we are
Collectors, restorers, and listeners
WIMAPS represents collectors primarily across Wisconsin and Illinois, but we welcome all phonograph enthusiasts, including from Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, and other states. Some members keep a single family machine running. Others fill a room with horns, cabinets, cylinders, and discs. Both are equally welcome.
There is no experience requirement and no test to pass. If you like the sound of a wound spring and a steel needle, you belong here.
Our purpose
Keeping antique phonographs playing
These machines were built to be used, and the hobby survives only when knowledge gets passed along. WIMAPS exists to keep that knowledge circulating: how a reproducer is rebuilt, where a spring can be replaced, which needles are safe on a shellac disc, and when the right answer is to leave a machine exactly as it is.
We are a volunteer club, not a dealer or an appraisal service. Everything we share is collector-to-collector.
What we do
We meet
Three to four times a year, members gather in Wisconsin and Illinois to demonstrate machines, compare finds, and listen to cylinders and discs the way they were meant to be heard.
We trade
Meetups usually include an informal swap and sell. Machines, horns, reproducers, cranes, cylinders, and discs change hands between members at collector prices.
We help
Bring a photo or bring the machine. Members help identify makers and models, talk through restoration options, and point you toward parts, belts, springs, and needles.
Where we reach
An antique phonograph club for the Midwest
Most members live within driving distance of the Wisconsin-Illinois line, from Milwaukee and Madison down through the Chicago area. Members from neighboring states join us whenever a meetup lands nearby.
- Wisconsin
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Michigan
Curious where we will be next? See upcoming meetups or get in touch.
Membership
Join WIMAPS
Becoming a WIMAPS member is an important part of perpetuating the hobby of antique phonograph collection and restoration. At this time, membership is FREE but donations are accepted. Members enjoy a variety of benefits.
Join WIMAPS — it’s free