Victor Talking Machine - World's Largest Orthophonic?

[Odeon]

From the Book (Google Book search)
"Radiola - The Golden Age Of RCA"

I found it

Camden Horn 2.jpg (61.91 KiB) Viewed 1942 times

[OrthoFan]

WELL DONE, ODEON!

(Direct Link to page -- Click Here)

[bbphonoguy]

Wow! Those last two photos are the best so far! They even show the woman standing on the hinge of the door.

I was discussing this thread with a friend from work, who moved here from Philadelphia. She told me that her grandmother had memories of the giant Victrola in Camden.

[JohnM]

From the aerial view of the VTMCo campus, I see I was correct in my assumption that the photo was taken from the Camden side and the horn didn't point across the river toward Philly. Thanks for clearing that up!

As far as the dating of the first photo is concerned, immediately after the VTMCo was acquired by RCA, it was called the 'Radio-Victor Division of the Radio Corpiration of America', IIRC, as evidenced by decals I have seen on RE-45's, etc. I don't know how long this appelation lasted before the name was changer to 'RCA Victor' -- probably less than a year.

On a side note, we bought a folding RCA mini-portable DVD/TV so we can watch movies while we are away from home, and when you turn it on, a digitally-generated image of Nipper and Chipper appears on the screen with both of them looking straight at you! Is Chipper supposed to be Nipper's son, or baby brother?

[Uncle Vanya]

What has become of the naysayers who were absolutely certain
that the Giant Victrola was a hoax?

[OrthoFan]

A little over a week ago, I wrote to the Johnson Victrola Museum to find out if they had any information about this in their archives. The request was turned over to Ann Horsey, Curator of Collections, Johnson Victrola Museum Archives in Dover. Today, I received the following email:



The archives of the Johnson Victrola Museum contain an almost complete series of “Voice of the Victor”. However we are missing a crucial one or two during the orthophonic era, including the October 1925 issue which made the great introduction of the Orthophonic Victrola. We also do not have issues for September 1926, February 1928, and several issues in 1929. But by that time forward the issues were focused on the radio era and not Victrolas.

However, the October 1926 issue, page 10, has an article, “When Coolidge Crossed the Bridge”, on the opening of the new suspension bridge at Camden (biggest in world) with the President in attendance. Or it could be the Philadelphia bridge depending on which side you lived. Quoted: “’Music from the Housetops’. We mounted the great instrument above the roof of the plant, somewhat higher than the bridge roadway, and perhaps two hundred feet distant. Appropriate decorations, and flood lights for night use, surrounded the Victrola, and the stage was set. …..They were listening, amazed, to Sousa’s band, as real, as impressive in volume and tone color, as inspiring in rhythm, as the famous organization itself. It was a Victor Record played on the Auditorium Orthophonic Victrola!.....Calvin Coolidge looked up and smiled—and everyone knows that’s the same as salvos of applause from that august source.” It shows a photo of the bridge with an inset Victrola. But this is not the image in the photo shown within these postings.

And in the November, December 1926 issue, pages 4-5, a photo depicts in the distance from the Sesquicentennial Stadium at Philadelphia this same Victrola, from which the Jubilee Mass crowd could hear the music. The term Radiola is used.

The February 1928 issue, page 11, has the article “A Sign That Talks The largest Victrola in the world speaks for itself to thousands of people everyday”. It shows the credenza only, which measures 30’ high x 20’ wide x 12’ deep, with a woman standing in front of it and it is described as a “big brother” to the Auditorium Victrola. The bridge is not visible. Sitting on top of the Printing Building, just as the Auditorium one did, it could be heard for a mile with “the most beautiful, distortionless quality you can imagine.” There is a description by research engineer Dr. Carlton D. Haigis, the designer. This is the same machine as shown in the posted image.

So in conclusion, there were two large machines atop the same building near the bridge, one in October 1926 and the next in February 1928. I checked issues after that with no further mention of either machine. This should clear up some questions posted. Please let me know when you receive further information of this fascinating period in the history of the VTMC.

Sincerely,

Ann Baker Horsey
Curator of Collections
Historical and Cultural Affairs


I thanked Ms. Horsey for the time she took to research this. (I had provided a link to this post string in my initial inquiry.) I'm pretty sure all of her work involved a manual search of the archives, which must have taken hours.

OF

[estott]

What has become of the naysayers who were absolutely certain
that the Giant Victrola was a hoax?

I was patiently waiting to write "Neener Neener"

[Lenoirstreetguy]

I also wrote Thomas Rhodes the researcher par excellence on the Orthophonic Era. He has forgotten more than I will EVER know and I stand continually in awe. He has written extensively in MAPS Bulletin, The New Amberola Graphic and The Soundbox.
Here's his missive of Feb 22, on the subject of the BIG Victrola.

Greetings, Jim: The giant Credenza, or talking sign was NO hoax but a working public address system. Photos of it were featured in that beautiful book on RCA by my correspondent Dr. Eric Wenaas. I plan to offer my idea on how it worked in an article for The Sound Box, if my health allows me.
Mr. Orthophonic.


Tom's health is a problem and I hope it allows him to do this article. I'll be first in line to read it!

Jim

[frenchmarky]

<<With vacuum tube amplification wouldn't this be considered an Electrola and not an Orthophonic? At best it would be a hybrid.>>

I thought that the term Electrola was just a upgrade from 'Victrola' and meant a Victrola with an electric motor, and independently, Orthophonic was applied to any machine that used their orthophonic soundbox and horn? I didn't think Electrola applied to whether it used electronic amplification or not but I'm not 100% positive.

[Odeon]

In THE GRAMOPHONE Magazin (Net-archive http://www.gramophone.net/ )from January 1927 I found this article.
Sadly the archive of THE GRAMOPHONE Magazine lost the the feature
to see the original article as pdf......

The Auditorium Orthophonic Victrola
(Communicated by Dr. F. H. Mead, of San Diego.)
IHAVE had two opportunities of hearing this instrument, once when I could inspect the details of the instrument, and a second time when it furnished a detailed popular programme. It is eight times as powerful as the " Electrola," issued by the Victor Co., which is sold here for $550.

Only four details of the old phonograph remain— the rotating turntable (moved electrically), the record, the needle, the tone arm. The sound-box is replaced by an "electric pickup," a small horseshoe shaped box, about the size of a small sound-box. Two wires issue from this and conduct the vibrations from the record, the needle fitting into the "pickup," just as it does into a sound-box ; and these two wires are connected with what is a radio apparatus, with a large number of" valves." From this apparatus pass two wires to a large wood screen, about 5ft. by 8ft. This has eight reproducers on it, which look like eight separate brass bowls.

The whole principle of the machine is to reproduce phonograph vibrations by a powerful radio mechanism.

The first record I heard was the Washington Post march, rendered by Sousa's Band. This was most excellent, and you could easily imagine the real band was issuing the music. No scratch, and the bass end of the brass admirable. It was given in the San Diego Stadium, which holds 30,000 people, and the volume was remarkable—quite as great as the real band.
A programme was given later in the open air, in front of the Spreckels Organ. In the first march the high notes sounded metallic; the low notes and tympani were good. It seemed to take a certain volume of sound to overcome the "scratch," which at times was audible. The record generally did not come up to the Sousa. In Galli
Curci's record the voice was not nearly so good as in her old records, Ah non credea, for instance, and sounded "throaty." The piano was excellent. Kreisler's selection was very excellent, and the tones of the violin well produced, piano accompaniment good, but the scratch coming through the quieter passages. The most natural record of the series was undoubtedly the Revellers Male Quartet. Shut your eyes, and it was difficult to think you had not the singers before you. This rendition and reproduction were very perfect. At Dawning was an organ record, and the organ did not seem remarkable. McCormack's Ballad was wonderfully reproduced, the voice excellent, the selection commonplace. In the Anvil Chorus the realism was very great, the reproduction perfect, and it would seem to be a marvellous success in reproducing this class of music. In the orchestral Caprice Viennois the massed strings were well given, the violins being excellently clear, and the record well given. Tibbet's Pagliacci Prologue was one of the great successes of the afternoon, voice and words very clear and resonant, and the orchestra excellent.
The Blue Danube, by the magnificent Philadelphia Orchestra, was equally satisfactory. Of the rest of the programme I will only mention the Robin Hood selection.
Here it was hard to imagine you were not in a theatre and listening to the chorus on the stage, so faithfully does the instrument give out the numbers. Rosa Ponselle's voice came out magnificently, and Martinelli's, and there was no audible scratch in this record. As I left the great organ they were playing the Angelus on the phonograph (organ record).
It was difficult to believe the great organ itself was not being played.

The instrument is certainly a wonderful machine, and for auditoriums will have, with suitable records, great uses for teaching orchestral and other music.