Best Upright Cabinet Edison or Victor

[Victrolacollector]

Which cabinet seems to be the strongest..Edison or Victor in the upright models.

It seems some cabinets may be more prone to pulling or falling apart than others. Basically which one would you recommend thats built like a battleship?

[ambrola]

I would have to go with the old work hoarse Edison C-19. The only cabinet problems is the corner pieces. They will come off if hit to hard.

[Jerry B.]

In my opinion Victor cabinets are best from the top models to the inexpensive ones. They built their own cabinets and were able to better control consistent quality. Many Edison cabinets were built by outside vendors and there were examples of entire shipments that were rejected by the Edison Company. I've moved mine and other collection and found something very interesting. I helped pick up a VV-XVI and then moved a comparably sized off brand machine. The Victrola was significantly heavier. I realized why when I salvaged a Victrola damaged in a fire. After salvaging everything of value, I broke up the remainder of the cabinet. What a job. Even the core wood under the veneer was oak.

Jerry Blais

[52089]

Over the years I have bought a few Victor machines with wrecked cabinets in order to get good parts from them. At first, I was leaving the beat up cabinets for my landlord to chop up into firewood. After I did this 2 or 3 times, he asked me to please not bother anymore, because it was too much work to chop them up!

[De Soto Frank]

I have rarely run across a Victor machine that was loose at the glue joints. Some veneer lift perhaps, if it was in a really damp place.


On the other hand, I have seen quite a few Edison and Columbia cabinets with loosening veneer, loose glue joints, more frequently with their less-expensive machines.


Victor machines are about the most solidly built talking machines, with Brunswick a close second.

[EarlH]

Pooley cabinets are the WORST one's I have had to work on and refinish. Warped, twisted panels, and also odd and HUGE veneer patches on the sides of cabinets. I can totally understand why Victor and Edison got away from them as soon as they could. Later on Pooley got their head pulled out and did a better job of things, but I am not at all impressed with the level of quality that outfit was offering in the 1905-1910 era. It would be kind of interesting to know how much Pooley charged Victor & Edison for specific cabinets, and how much money they decided they saved when they started making the cabinets themselves.

Having said that, Victor generally did a better job with cabinets than Edison did I think. But both would have fared better if they would have put some finish on the bottoms of their cabinets and doors. The Victrolas will generally hold up better because on most of the machines they have that molding across the bottom that held the veneer down. Most Edison's don't and once the veneer starts to get loose, there's nothing down there to keep it from getting all chipped up.

I had a junk oak Victrola XVI cabinet out in my back yard behind the garage a few years ago and it took about 3 years before it finally fell apart! That's pretty good here in North Iowa.

[Victrolacollector]

I was thinking Victor made the stronger cabinets. I have also noticed that Edison's do not cover the edges of veneer with trim.

[De Soto Frank]

Eldridge Johnson made certain that his "Victor" was a first-class product.

[marcapra]

Edison also put out a first class product and Edison owned the cabinet factory that made his cabinets by the early 20s, I think. That was in New London, Wisconsin, which lent it's name to the London models of that time. The Columbia cabinets of the mid-1920s were also very well made, such as the Viva-Tonal 800 and 810, and the the other Viva-Tonals. Brunswick also made also a first class cabinet. Some of the really off brand uprights were very poorly made. I once saw an off brand large phonograph upright where you could literally push your finger into the side wall of the cabinet and the wood would flex in with your finger!