Another cabinet adventure

[Phonolair]

I believe it's a matching cabinet for a plain case Victor II. If you'll send your mailing address, I'll send a catalog showing all the cabinets as well as Victor machines. Jerry Blais

Jerry's got it, a Victor II or a late large case Victor I will fit. I have a Victor II on mine and it fits fine. The front is fluted like yours also but doesn't show in the pictures. Please excuse the sheets and clutter, I'm working in the next room making a mess and my wonderful wife has been covering the phonographs trying to keep the dust off. I pulled this out for a couple of quick pictures.
Regards, Larry Crandell

[FloridaClay]

WOW, that is it to a T (except with the finish in a lot nicer condition). What's the serial number of your II (so I can determine the subtype)? Is the top indentation on yours also 12 x 12?

Looks like the Vic I may have just gotten kicked off my "bucket list" for a Vic II.

Clay

[Phonolair]

Clay my opening is slightly larger than your opening. My opening measures 12 ¾" sq. and the very top molding is a little different. I have never cleaned this cabinet and you can see from one of the two pictures the dirt and wax line where the Victor II has sit for years. The other picture shows the machine in place.
Judging from the size of your opening I'm guessing its for the smaller humpback Victor II.

Regards, Larry Crandell

[FloridaClay]

Thank you Larry. I admire the state of the finish on yours, a just right honey color from the pictures. Still debating whether to redo mine to get something similar. Will probably wait to see what machine I get later so I'll have a target to match.

Clay

[FloridaClay]

I believe it's a matching cabinet for a plain case Victor II. If you'll send your mailing address, I'll send a catalog showing all the cabinets as well as Victor machines. Jerry Blais

Jerry, just checking to make sure that you got my PM with the address. I did send it again.

Clay

[FloridaClay]

Apparently this cabinet was made with a variety of tops to fit various Victor phonographs. Just spotted it with a Victor III as illustration 4-78 in The Talking Machine: An Illustrated Compendium 1877-1929, 2nd Edition.

Clay

[gramophone78]

Apparently this cabinet was made with a variety of tops to fit various Victor phonographs. Just spotted it with a Victor III as illustration 4-78 in The Talking Machine: An Illustrated Compendium 1877-1929, 2nd Edition.

Clay

Clay, Photo 4-78 in Tim & George's book is in fact a Victor III "Cabinet that Matches". It is much larger and has pronounced reeded columns, like a Vic.III.

[FloridaClay]

Apparently this cabinet was made with a variety of tops to fit various Victor phonographs. Just spotted it with a Victor III as illustration 4-78 in The Talking Machine: An Illustrated Compendium 1877-1929, 2nd Edition.

Clay

Clay, Photo 4-78 in Tim & George's book is in fact a Victor III "Cabinet that Matches". It is much larger and has pronounced reeded columns, like a Vic.III.

Vioctor III With Cabinet.JPG

Interesting.

The front side columns on mine also have reeding (ribbing?) in the same design found on several outside horn Victors. The reeded area just does not show up very well as the pictures of mine were made in its "as found" condition--very dirty and with age and exposure darkened shellac so there is no clear light/dark color contrast to make it stand out as with the one in your picture.

There are certainly some design differences on closer inspection though, even though the results are a similar presentation (whether another line by the same manufacturer or a different manufacturer I couldn't say at this point). The columns in the cabinet you picture project out from the cross member above the door and commence immediately below the top plate, whereas mine is flush all the way across the top above the door with the columns starting beneath the upper cross member, albeit that the cross member has basically the same profile. Also on mine the feet are partially reeded like the columns and do not taper. In those respects the design of the front of mine is identical to the one Larry posted, except that his may not have the reeding (can't tell for sure from the pics, but its absence would make sense inasmuch as his is appears to have been made for a plain-case II).

I wonder how the dimensions compare. The top plate on mine is 17 ¼" x 17 ¼" and the measurements at about mid-height are 15 ½" x 13 ⅞". Height is 2' 9" from the floor to the bottom of the top plate.

My best guess is that because of the 12" x 12" top cavity my example was made for a Victor I, type A, B, or C (12” x 12” base) or a Victor II, type M (11 ¾” x 11 ¾” base). (Dimensions from The Victor Data Book.)

Clay

[FloridaClay]

Jerry, got The Talking Machine Company catalog. Thank you so much. And it does indeed solve the mystery.

All: The catalog shows that the TMC sold versions of "The Cabinet That Matches" for Victor I through VI machines. Design fine points varied, depending on the machine model for which the cabinet was intended, and the one that Larry and I have is very clearly the design for the Victor II. It had a "piano" finish on golden oak. Price $15. ($350 or so in current dollars.)

The catalog also has the machines and the Victor II machine in the same catalog with the cabinet shows that the base measured 11 ¾" x 11 ¾", making it a Victor II Type M circa 1905-1909. So that is the machine to go on my "bucket list."

Thought I’d leave tracks of this journey here for anybody looking for cabinet information later. And thanks to all who contributed to the thread.

Clay

P.S. I highly recommend the TMC company catalog reprint that Jerry is offering. A nice addition to the library of any fan of early Victor machines. http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... og#p143037

[FloridaClay]

The cabinet is now done, or done for now. The filth has been cleaned off and a split in the top glued up. Thanks to George Vollema I discovered that the record rack for a subtype of the Victor X is about 95% the same as the missing top one on my "Cabinet That Matches" and I have that now installed. It even has the 1 though 14 index strip at the bottom to complement the 15 through 28 strip on the bottom original rack. In the very unlikely event an original shows up somewhere it will be easy to change out later. I found a key that works in the lock. I sent the rusty, coroded hardware off to Nashville Plating Service for a cleanup (but leaving in some of the original dings) and "distressed nickel" replating (so that it does not look too new and shiny).

I say for now, because when my budget permits I will go searching for a Victor II, Type M ("humpback"), which the cabinet is designed to hold. When that happens some tinkering with the finish on the cabinet might need doing to get a condition/color match.

Clay