The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Greetings!

So I bought two Grafonolas lately. Both were cheap. I took the trashed one and used the tonearm to fix the somewhat less trashed one.

It looks like a client machine but the reproducer has "Magic Notes" and "Columbia." Also, the spindle is the normal size for a 78rpm machine. The finish is really pretty and the horns in both were woodgrained with no trace of a grill cloth. I'm going to leave them like that and show off that fancy horn.

The really trashed one actually had a pack with some unused Victor Fiber Needles in it! So I tried those out...nice sound.

What have I got?

The machines you have is a late model BZ. This is a Columbia product made for Sears for their internal horn Oxford series. This was the entry level one and sold for $9.95 in 1912. These are really nice machines.
Harvey Kravitz

Thanks a lot! So they're not actually Columbia...I would have never guessed Oxford!

Well, they were branded Oxford, but were built for Sears under contract by Columbia. So they are still technically a Columbia machine. These are from just before the Silvertone era.

They are uncommon machines.

I think it's pretty crazy that I found two of them, if they're that uncommon!

Mainly I bought them because I thought it was cool to find the body to fit that one tonearm onto, and because I originally thought they were Grafonolas which, for whatever reason, never had tone-leaves installed.

Time to get the needle bar straightened and rebuild the old soundbox and motor, clean it up, maybe put on a little fresh felt, and go hunt for Oxford Records!

Seems like Oxford records don't turn up in the wild very often, either, though you will see one from time to time. Most if not all of them were made from Columbia masters.

Sears introduced the Silvertone line in their Spring 1916 catalog if memory serves me correct. I suspect the reason for them to do this is the Oxford line wasn't selling too well judging by the number of machines and records encountered today.

I forgot to mention that these machines never had a grille cloth. That would hide the grain of the metal horns. Once you rebuild the reproducer, and get it working, they are pretty loud for such a small machine. Be careful of the pesky fiber gear. Ron Sitko sells good replacements.
Harvey Kravitz

Nice to see. I've never seen a table top Oxford. I have a Harvard with horn though. I do have about twenty to thirty Oxford records so they can be found!

zenith82 wrote:Seems like Oxford records don't turn up in the wild very often, either, though you will see one from time to time. Most if not all of them were made from Columbia masters.

Sears introduced the Silvertone line in their Spring 1916 catalog if memory serves me correct. I suspect the reason for them to do this is the Oxford line wasn't selling too well judging by the number of machines and records encountered today.

Sears also began the process of streamlining the many names for its house brands.

estott wrote:

zenith82 wrote:Seems like Oxford records don't turn up in the wild very often, either, though you will see one from time to time. Most if not all of them were made from Columbia masters.

Sears introduced the Silvertone line in their Spring 1916 catalog if memory serves me correct. I suspect the reason for them to do this is the Oxford line wasn't selling too well judging by the number of machines and records encountered today.

Sears also began the process of streamlining the many names for its house brands.

True, but that happened a little later. Even though the Silvertone name was eventually used on electronics and some musical instruments, I think the name was exclusive for phonographs until about 1924 when the radios were introduced.