What is a Victrola Type RE-4-A ?

[MarkELynch]

Here is a photo of the ID tag. What do these numbers mean?

[VanEpsFan1914]

Hm.

RE--"Radio Electrola?"

[Lucius1958]

Yep. Radiola-Electrola.

Bill

[Retrograde]

May be an export model. Serial number of "100" is interesting assuming that's what the number means.

[Victrola-Monkey]

My guess is that is definitely not made for the US market because no RE model (which is RCA Victor) would be using a Victor Talking Machine Company ID plate in the US. Though I do have an empty prototype RE-45 cabinet (similar to the one on page 40 of the Victor Data Book that has the shadow of the same shaped ID plate as this RE-4A and has the tonearm bracket holes used on the Victor Orthophonic tone arm versus that of the standard RE-45.

Note the direction of the grain. For the grain to be perpendicular to the print makes me say there is a front door versus a lid. If there was a lid, the grain of the tonearm board or the vertical board behind the tonearm board would be parallel to the print.

Could this be the phonograph only version of the R-4 table model radio and would be using a RCA-247 and a UX-280 tube? Or perhaps it requires the use of an external amplifier like the T-5 apparently does. The R-4 has dimensions of 10x14 and is 17” tall. Never seen one, just the R-4 info is in the 1931-1932 Service Notes book.

Definitely have me wondering.

[PeterF]

Wow, I am really glad this has finally resurfaced. Old Eldridge tried to quash it, because he didn’t find it funny.

The story, perhaps apocryphal, but certainly plausible:

The Victor factory crew had for years been jealous of the Edison gang, because even though Victor was making more money, the Edison people obviously had more fun and were way cooler. They had a real live American hero as leader, and even got to wear cool buttons of him around the factory on his birthday. His face and/or signature was on everything they made.

But in Camden? Just that dang dog, and nobody in the head office was even named Victor.

To liven things up a group of guys decided to try something. The result, presented to Victor’s management team just over 95 years ago at the beginning (very first day) of the 2nd fiscal quarter of 1924, was the mysterious RE-4-A 100.

No photos of the unit survived Eldridge Johnson’s cane-whipping of the photographer and his equipment, but we do have a fragmentary description from an eyewitness, interviewed on tape in Florida many years later:

“...<static> made dis lady...outta shiny metal <garbled> put da guts of a VV-210 or a 50 or sumpin... in her hand...<buzzing sound > horn through da dame’s arm...to her feet...real shiny lady...I ferget...(tape ends)”

Experts theorize that the inscription on the ID plate affixed to the oaken base of this legendary object stands for:

RE-4-A 100 = Ruse Exquisite 4(for) April 1 (oo!)

Prior to this revelation of ID plate info, it was variably known by various monikers, including Victrola Girl, Shiny Happy Phono, and of course, the April Phoolola.

A collector friend recently broke into Mark’s home, and was able to secretly shoot this photo from the floor as he was being dragged back outside by Mark.

[fran604g]

I think Howard Carter may have discovered it after his huge disappointment at failing to hit real paydirt in Egypt. This discovery enabled him to finally pay down some of his massive debt - which resulted from hole digging in the sand.

I saw a documentary featuring Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein in the 60s.

[Victrola-Monkey]

We give up Mark,

What do those numbers mean?