The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Has anyone else noticed that Victor Machines seem to show up more on the East coast such as New York, New Jersey and the New England states? It seems that independent companies dominated the market in the Midwest . Most of the machines sold in the Midwest were made by companies in Chicago and small cities and towns in Illinois and Iowa and Michigan.

Explains why I have a harder time finding machines I want here in Nebraska.

I live in Minneapolis and can indeed attest to this. This is not to say that Victor products DON'T show up here commonly (they definitely do), but I also come across dozens more "off-brand" and unusual machines out here than I do when I am vacationing on the East coast or down South. In addition, I usually come across more desirable machines (by modern collector standards) out East than anywhere else - both my Victor 0 and VV 1-90 were originally owned by families in New York and Pennsylvania, and I have only met one collector with a Credenza model out here compared with four during my time in Maine!

And when I find a Victor machine around here it’s never anything above a XIV. I still have not seen a Credenza in person or even an outside horn machine! I’m lucky to even have my VV 8-4! But 10-50s, XVIIs, Credenzas, VTLAs, ect forget about it!

The same is true of vintage and antique cars. There were far more on the east coast that early collectors got cheap back in the 40s through 60s. There was more concentration of wealth on the east at the turn of the last century so more people bought more cars and phonographs and other luxury items.

Yet if you are into vintage VW, Porsche, and Mercedes... the West Coast is where it's at!

The big cities on the West Coast had Victor dealerships. A big dealership is Sherman & Clay, in Seattle, Spokane, Tacoma and Portland OR and others. I have quite a few machines and ephemera with their logo. Victor seemed to concentrate in the big cities for their sales.
Harvey Kravitz

How long have you lived up in Minneapolis? I think I've bought at least a dozen Credenzas up there in the last 15-18 years. One was standing out in a woman's back yard with the horn full of grass that flew in it as she mowed the yard! The last one was a really early one with 2-doors and a brass reproducer. I bought a Pooley VTLA cabinet up there 4 years ago now and 5-6, L-door machines including 2 of the earlier VTLA machines. And in the last couple of years 3 of the XVI's from the 1916-17 time frame. Columbia had a really big presence up there as well and I have an 810 and an 820 from up that way and also a couple of smaller Viva tonal machines. And my 10-70 and C-2 Edison are from up there as well. Most of those Credenzas were from antique stores (that nearly don't exist anymore) but a lot of stuff has turned up on craigslist over the years up there. There was a LOT of money in that area when Victor was selling a lot of stuff. All the grain from Northern Minnesota came down through there. There are a lot of really nice big old houses still up there (Or at least they were nice when they were new) and the big old houses that are gone are almost beyond belief. I also have a Brunswick Panatrope/Radiola that came from just off Summit Ave. in Minneapolis as well. It belonged to a Dr. up there that liked to have dance parties at his house. The house is still standing, I bought it from his son. Good luck finding anything in Des Moines though. I have hardly ever found much down there. I think Des Moines was more Edison territory. We had a big Victor dealership here in Mason City but XIV's are about the most expensive machines I've ever seen around here. Tom Fretty (for those old enough to remember him) hoovered up a lot of stuff around here and hauled it out to California. He took stuff out there by the semi load. Well, good luck with your collecting now, Earl.

Victor machines can show up anywhere, but I've noticed that most of them tend to be concentrated around major metro areas. Which makes sense, because I don't think there were near as many Victor dealers in rural areas.

Columbia seemed to sell more machines in rural areas and smaller towns, though they turn up in cities as well. The ones that seem to be more heavily concentrated in rural areas are the machines from the mail-order houses such as Silvertone or Cecilian.


The so-called "off brands" are all over the place. It seemed like many of these tended to be more heavily marketed within a couple hundred miles of where they were manufactured. There are exceptions of course. There was a rather prolific Cheney dealer here in Baltimore around 1920.

I may be considered blasphemous, but many Victor machines get boring to me after a while. How many VV-XIs do you have to find before you tire of them?

Good point. It makes sense that the logistics were more regional back then.