nice Ortho - Seattle

[gramophone78]

There was nothing at the auction that had not been re-worked in some fashion. No real deals were there either. The Vic O was a disappointment, with a partially repaint horn and case cover with a dark....????.

[Mr Grumpy]

Wondering about the finish myself, I was. It seems awfully light, but as a 'mercan, I'm not used to seeing this model at all. Looks like...Canadian maple! The records shelves are dark, as we normally see. The usual dead giveaway for a refinished machine, a dark spot under the lid decal, isn't there, but then the decal itself is just a little bit off-register and could maybe be a reproduction. But does anybody make reproductions of the Canadian decals? In any case, a good-looking machine, and if refinished, a very decent job of it -- if the original finish was meant to be that light, eh? The flame veneer on this one seems especially pretty.

There's an electric one available not too far from me --> http://www.kijiji.ca/v-art-collectibles ... nFlag=true

They're usually the darker colour you're used to seeing, but the squares
surrounding the circular medallions looks almost yellowish.

The colour on the doors of the one at auction is probably closer to what I'd expect to see.

[Cody K]

Hmmm...that one seems pretty light, too, going by the standard of the mahogany machines produced in the U.S. And neither of them look especially mahogany anyway. Is there any chance that these cabinets are maple? It's Canada, after all... (From Mr. Grumpy's link: )

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It's a handsome cabinet. Somewhat more Columbia-looking than the American Orthophonic models, especially the grille. I'd like to see one in person. Is the horn in these metal or wood?

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[Mr Grumpy]

I'm pretty sure these examples are Walnut based on the grain,
but I have seen the Alvara in mahogany with a brown walnut stain applied.

I've never seen them in a 'red' mahogany we're used to seeing on the earlier pre-ortho
machines.

[Cody K]

I guess they could be either walnut or maple. Sugar ("rock") maple's grains can be pretty dramatic too. Either way, if the lighter finish is original to these machines, I like this model even better.

[De Soto Frank]

Bear in mind the "flash-on-camera" and / or "Studio floods" can REALLY lighten the appearance of the finish.


I think the e-bay machine has not been re-finished.

[Cody K]

Yeah, years of squinting at flash photos on CL and eBay go a long way toward getting the ability to mentally translate a flash pic into what the actual object probably looks like. I had wondered about whether the eBay machine had been refinished based on the lighter tone, but the one Mr. Grumpy linked to made me think again. I'm thinking now that maybe either both have been refinished or neither has. It would be kind of odd if it were both, but who am I to tell Canadians what to do with their Victrolas on long winter nights?

I guess it's not impossible that there might be a couple of these in Rhode Island, since a fairly large contingent of French-Canadians worked in factories hereabouts, and many of those families were becoming solidly middle-class by the mid-'twenties. I'd like to run across one.

[Mr Grumpy]

It would be kind of odd if it were both, but who am I to tell Canadians what to do with their Victrolas on long winter nights?

Back in the mid 80's when euchre and kiss-the-cod games started going out of fashion I was invited
to several 'refinishing parties', where everyone in the village gathered to refinish each others furniture.*

..and drink beer





*source: totally made it up

[Cody K]

Just as I imagined! After these parties, not a single un-refinished machine left in all of Canada! Tabernac!