Columbia Viva-tonal Phonograph model 600, 700 and 810 series

[James]

I am researching Columbia Viva-Tonal Phonograph, were the 600, 700 and 800 series made in Canada?, and if so where were their factories? Is the model 810 have a four spring motor. Also are the equipped with electric motor tuntable as an option?

James

[Lenoirstreetguy]

Columbia's factory was here in Toronto. There were at least two: the earlier one was on Adelaide Street , I believe . The last one was on Sorauren Avenue in the west end, just south of Dundas Street. It is now a condo . I'm adding a couple of pics I took two years ago. You can see me reflected in the front door. Note the ghost of the Columbia logo on the brick?
I don't know how much machine manufacture was done there but it was certainly a major pressing plant: they pressed the Columbia line for the entire country . There must have been some machine assembly as opposed to manufacture: the parts would have come up from the States. But whether any cabinets came from Canadian cabinet factories I do not know.
The reason one finds so many late twenties Columbia classicals here in Toronto was that the employees could buy them at wholesale prices. They then passed them on to friends.
I was told this by a on old gent who had quite a number bought from a friend of his who worked for Columbia.

Jim

[schweg]

Are there any estimates on how many of these models were produced, either in Canada or the US? I don't see them very often and don't know of any source that has any production information.

Steve S

[schweg]

I wondered, is this a Vivatonal or just some offbrand? The tonearm looked somewhat like the Vivatonal ones but I couldn't tell for sure. It is unlike anything in the Columbia book by Baumbach as far as the trim goes.. It's the only picture of it in the auction listing coming up in a few weeks..Any ideas?

[estott]

It looks to me like a Frankenphone. Appears to be a late 30's-early 40's off brand cabinet (probably British) with the arm and motor from a Columbia console. That crank is far too long for the case. I could be wrong - but something isn't right.

[syncopeter]

Just what I thought. The cabinet can't be any earlier than mid 30s, being a relatively late art-deco design and probably was a radiogram of some kind. I also doubt that the tonearm is Columbia. It looks like one of the stock models Paillard sold. But I have to confess that it is a rather nice looking Frankenphone. I wouldn't mind having it, if only for its looks.
The only funny thing is that it is deeper than it is wide, which could point to it being designed as an acoustig gramophone in the first place. Fascinating.

[estott]

It could have been acoustic- quite a few makers (many in the UK) put out machines meant to look like radios. They were primarily offered to the rural market- many farms had minimal electricity (or none) but the owners still wanted to be up to date.

[syncopeter]

HMV had a version of their model 157, I don't know the exact model number, without doors that was up-to-date in stylistic terms as late as 1935. In rural areas in Britain electricity, when available at all. was not very trustworthy. Radio there was still often battery powered as is proven by many detective novels written in the second half of the 30s, Dorothy L Sayers' 'Busman's Holiday' being one of these.
So the cabinet may be that of an original acoustic gramophone, the mechanics look iffy, to say the least.

[OrthoFan]

I wondered, is this a Vivatonal or just some offbrand? The tonearm looked somewhat like the Vivatonal ones but I couldn't tell for sure. It is unlike anything in the Columbia book by Baumbach as far as the trim goes.. It's the only picture of it in the auction listing coming up in a few weeks..Any ideas?

The attachment phono.jpg is no longer available

That looks exactly like the 1935 Sears Silvertone illustrated in the ad on this page:

http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... f=2&t=2691

1935 Silvertone phonos.JPG (59.49 KiB) Viewed 3500 times

Based on discussions about this model, it was equipped with a Brunswick style tonearm, and there was speculation that old stock parts were being used up.

If it say's "Silvertone" or "Sears" inside the cabinet, this would make it a very rare find, indeed. Frankly, I'd jump at the opportunity to get what is probably one of the last, if not THE last of the full size cabinet acoustic phonographs sold in the US.

[schweg]

Excellent! Thanks Ortho_fan for the identification on the phono. It's near my brother's home so I'll have to get him to go and check it out for me. His finders fee is not too much, he did this once before for me, so I'll see what he has going on that day.

Steve