Victrola Parties

[Kirkwood]

I have a good friend in Baltimore who hosts the occasional dinner party in the summer. While preparations are made, guests make their own cocktails and go out to the rear garden where out host has set up an Orthophonic portable Victrola 2-55 and one or two record cases of bouncy dance music to enjoy. The guests will include collectors, family members and their spouses (some of them professional musicians). Guests will share duties to keep the music playing, winding the Victrola as needed, so on. We enjoy conversation with the Victrola providing background entertainment, and it's all quite fun. When dinner is served, we all go indoors to the dining room (in all of its full-bore Victorian splendor). Our genial host loads up the Capehart changer in the adjoining living room to provide dinner music, although he does have a beautiful 10-50 changer in the dining room which gets too loud for conversation. In the same house, our host has a Wurlitzer theater pipe organ, and when the Midi-system was functioning we'd be serenaded with quite lovely pipe organ music during dinner. The host has a very large record collection and a few quite nice phonographs, in addition to the pipe organ (and the Welte player grand piano). I blame him for re-infecting me with the desire to collect such things in my adult life!

[Valecnik]

This may sound crazy..... But do any forum members ever host or attend any Victrola parties to listen to music and have food and coffee and tea. Etc.

Victrola parties??? Heavens no! We did though, Friday night of Union weekend host an EDISON party in our hotel room with a few other forum members and friends. No coffee or tea but we did have some beer.

[Cody K]

On my 21st birthday, which if I remember correctly occurred sometime in the last millenium, I went with about a dozen friends to the Rose Garden at Elizabeth Park in Hartford. We took along my Victor II and a case full of records. Nothing at the party (except the food, duh) had been made much later than 1915 or so -- the blankets we sat on, the dishes, glasses, napkins and cutlery, the phonograph and the records. The roses were in full bloom, the sunset was spectacular, with a soundtrack of schmaltzy Victor Concert Orchestra waltzes from the 'teens...and we tied onions to our belts, which was the style at the time. We didn't have any white onions, because of the war. The only thing you could get was those big yellow ones...[/Grandpa Simpson]

I think there are two types of people... those who are interested in the machines, and those who are interested in the music.

Actually, there are four types of people. Those who are interested in the machines, those who are interested in the music, those who are interested in both, and (the largest faction by far) those who could give a rat's axx about any of it.

Victrola parties??? Heavens no! We did though, Friday night of Union weekend host an EDISON party in our hotel room with a few other forum members and friends. No coffee or tea but we did have some beer.

Ruffians! It's behavior like this that's turning the hobby into a free-for-all! Have a care, sir!

[Roaring20s]

June has been hot with high temperatures ranging 100 to 110. Six of us escaped today's 100 degree heat and drove up, and up, 7000 feet to achieve 80 degrees. In this group, I'm the only one with a phono addiction. My wife said thought my music might be nice. The Edison being most portable was now coming. I selected 15 recordings (one hour) and we ate our picnic lunch to a mix of classical and jazz. It added nice background to the conversations and even a few questions about the source. Sometimes that's all that is needed.

James.

[gramophone78]

June has been hot with high temperatures ranging 100 to 110. Six of us escaped today's 100 degree heat and drove up, and up, 7000 feet to achieve 80 degrees. In this group, I'm the only one with a phono addiction. My wife said thought my music might be nice. The Edison being most portable was now coming. I selected 15 recordings (one hour) and we ate our picnic lunch to a mix of classical and jazz. It added nice background to the conversations and even a few questions about the source. Sometimes that's all that is needed.

James.

That's cool James. OK everybody.....party at James house next weekend...!!!!!.... Remember....BYOV... .

[Valecnik]

A Phonograph party with the kids in June 2009.