Late portable for sale in local antique shop - $90

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Jerry B.
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Late portable for sale in local antique shop - $90

Post by Jerry B. »

I'm no authority on portables but this looked like a very late one to me. It's for sale in Corvallis, OR for $90. I didn't get a photo of the top or rest of the case but it appeared to be in good shape. I'd be happy to bring it to Union or APS for anyone interested. Please PM for any questions or interest. Jerry Blais
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Jerry B.
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Re: Late portable for sale in local antique shop - $90

Post by Jerry B. »

I'm curious, when would a machine like have been manufactured and sold? Thanks, Jerry

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gramophone-georg
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Re: Late portable for sale in local antique shop - $90

Post by gramophone-georg »

Jerry B. wrote:I'm curious, when would a machine like have been manufactured and sold? Thanks, Jerry
Glen Waters bought the Conley Co. and began using the Phonola name just before the USA got involved in WW2. How long they were made I don't know. I think springwound portables were likely available till around 1950 or so, maybe even later.
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Re: Late portable for sale in local antique shop - $90

Post by estott »

gramophone-georg wrote:
Jerry B. wrote:I'm curious, when would a machine like have been manufactured and sold? Thanks, Jerry
Glen Waters bought the Conley Co. and began using the Phonola name just before the USA got involved in WW2. How long they were made I don't know. I think springwound portables were likely available till around 1950 or so, maybe even later.
I think that they only stopped with the end of the 78 era.

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Re: Late portable for sale in local antique shop - $90

Post by OrthoFan »

gramophone-georg wrote:
Jerry B. wrote:I'm curious, when would a machine like have been manufactured and sold? Thanks, Jerry
Glen Waters bought the Conley Co. and began using the Phonola name just before the USA got involved in WW2. How long they were made I don't know. I think springwound portables were likely available till around 1950 or so, maybe even later.

Mechanical phonographs were still sold by Sears as late as Dec. 1952; and probably later. Here's the add from the 1952 Sear Wish Book (Christmas catalog):
Capture.JPG
(FROM: http://www.wishbookweb.com/the-catalogs/ )

These are typical of the late models I've seen -- no embellishments, no record holder, and normally, the potmetal tonearm is painted.
s-l1600.jpg
(not mine)

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gramophone-georg
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Re: Late portable for sale in local antique shop - $90

Post by gramophone-georg »

Interesting.

If I recall, regular issue 78s didn't officially "go away" until 1963. When I was a kid I stopped into a radio supply and repair store in North Canton Ohio to test some tubes. This was likely 1968 or 69. The store, an RCA dealer, had some new RCA portable wind up machines with original boxes in the window on clearance for $15 each... a stack of boxes with one machine open for display on top. I wanted to buy a few but couldn't scrape the money together even for one! :lol:

I wonder how long RCA Victor made these machines- maybe up to the end? That makes me wonder about Waters- Conley and other brands as well. Maybe they were made into the early Sixties but not really hot sellers.

Wonder what those NOS machines in the box would go for today.
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Re: Late portable for sale in local antique shop - $90

Post by 52089 »

gramophone-georg wrote:Interesting.

If I recall, regular issue 78s didn't officially "go away" until 1963.
That depends on the label and the country. In the USA, relatively few commercial titles came out on 78 after 1958. I am not aware of any US company that pressed 78s in 1960 or later (other than the occasional "oddball" or private release.) RCA Victor's last 78 was an Elvis Presley record of "I Got Stung", catalog 20-7410, but that was only released to jukebox operators

Commercial 78s were generally available in the UK and Canada for 1959 and some 1960 releases, perhaps later. Other countries - notably the Philippines, India, and South Africa (among others) continues into the early 1960s. Several Beatles releases came out on 78 in India in the mid-60s.

Mike Sherman's Victor book shows a 78 pressed in South America on the orange RCA label. IIRC, that orange label wasn't used until at least 1968.

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gramophone-georg
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Re: Late portable for sale in local antique shop - $90

Post by gramophone-georg »

52089 wrote:
gramophone-georg wrote:Interesting.

If I recall, regular issue 78s didn't officially "go away" until 1963.
That depends on the label and the country. In the USA, relatively few commercial titles came out on 78 after 1958. I am not aware of any US company that pressed 78s in 1960 or later (other than the occasional "oddball" or private release.) RCA Victor's last 78 was an Elvis Presley record of "I Got Stung", catalog 20-7410, but that was only released to jukebox operators

Commercial 78s were generally available in the UK and Canada for 1959 and some 1960 releases, perhaps later. Other countries - notably the Philippines, India, and South Africa (among others) continues into the early 1960s. Several Beatles releases came out on 78 in India in the mid-60s.

Mike Sherman's Victor book shows a 78 pressed in South America on the orange RCA label. IIRC, that orange label wasn't used until at least 1968.
I was speaking of the USA. I'm aware that the format remained in use in other parts of the world you mentioned, and the former Soviet bloc, until even later.
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Re: Late portable for sale in local antique shop - $90

Post by New Yorker »

gramophone-georg wrote:Interesting.

If I recall, regular issue 78s didn't officially "go away" until 1963. When I was a kid I stopped into a radio supply and repair store in North Canton Ohio to test some tubes. This was likely 1968 or 69. The store, an RCA dealer, had some new RCA portable wind up machines with original boxes in the window on clearance for $15 each... a stack of boxes with one machine open for display on top. I wanted to buy a few but couldn't scrape the money together even for one! :lol:

Wonder what those NOS machines in the box would go for today.
I'm relatively new to this hobby, but you know, I don't know if those late "plain Jane" machines would be much in demand, even NOS. I could be wrong. But I wouldn't want one. Then again, I'm not a collector.

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gramophone-georg
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Re: Late portable for sale in local antique shop - $90

Post by gramophone-georg »

New Yorker wrote:
gramophone-georg wrote:Interesting.

If I recall, regular issue 78s didn't officially "go away" until 1963. When I was a kid I stopped into a radio supply and repair store in North Canton Ohio to test some tubes. This was likely 1968 or 69. The store, an RCA dealer, had some new RCA portable wind up machines with original boxes in the window on clearance for $15 each... a stack of boxes with one machine open for display on top. I wanted to buy a few but couldn't scrape the money together even for one! :lol:

Wonder what those NOS machines in the box would go for today.
I'm relatively new to this hobby, but you know, I don't know if those late "plain Jane" machines would be much in demand, even NOS. I could be wrong. But I wouldn't want one. Then again, I'm not a collector.
From what I see NICE plain Jane portables go for on eBay, I think there is a demand, yes. I used to be all about the bling in my younger days, but now I take a different approach. I appreciate unmolested purity, or any good attempt to preserve that. I was one of these guys who strove to make his cars and talking machines as flashy as possible... as many correct period upgrades and accessories on the cars as I could find, and shiny finishes and gold plating on talking machines where it didn't belong.

But now I am more into correctness in my machines- the shiny urethane and shellac finishes have been replaced with correct semi flat varnish preservatives, and I don't "upgrade" other things any more.

In the car line, I have a 1963 VW 1500 Variant (Squareback to Americans) and a 1973 Mercedes 280SE 4.5 in my personal project queue. Both will be done as original- the VW will be a plain Jane with rubber floor coverings and single side draft 1500 pancake engine as it came from the factory, along with original "salt and pepper" cloth seats. The only accessories will be a correct Blaupunkt radio and Hirschmann antenna. The Mercedes won't get any additional bling, either... it'll stay vinyl, not leather, with loop carpet, not square weave. Original radio, no upgrades. This is quite a departure from my usual past approach where I had to have things most other collectors/ enthusiasts never even knew about, "just because I could".

All that said, even though the RCA Victor machines were plain Jane, they were pleasing to the eye even to a kid back then. I guess deep down I've always been a Bauhaus guy.
"He who dies with the most shellac wins"- some nutty record geek

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