Can Anyone Help Identify This Sears Silvertone Tru-Phonic Model?

[Holodisc]

Hello everyone!

I just purchased this Sears Silvertone Tru-Phonic phonograph and was hoping someone might be able to help me identify the model. I’ve attached an additional video of the phonograph playing a record, and to my untrained ears, it sounds pretty good for a $50 thrift store find!

I believe it’s an Orthophonic-style phonograph, which makes for a nice contrast to my Victrola.

Thank you!
Holodisc
Drew

[OrthoFan]

Your Tru-Phonic phonograph has some unique cabinet features. (I take it, you've already looked at the bottom of the cabinet, as well as the inside to see if there was a label attached.)

I looked over the PDF copies of the Sears catalogs I have, as well as those available online through the Internet Archive, and did not find an exact match. Sears was very accurate with the illustrations they provided in their catalogs, so that shouldn't have been an issue.

I've noticed that some Tru-Phonic models appeared in several catalogs after their introductions, while others only seemed to be available for one season--for example, a specific model may have been available in the Spring/Summer catalog, but not in the Fall/Winter catalog.

Hopefully, someone who has a comprehensive collection of late-1920s Sears catalogs will look through their collection. The date range to search for would probably be between 1926-1928. (The online Spring/Summer 1929 catalog had no matches, nor does the Spring/Summer 1930 catalog.)

Along this line, some universities have Sears Catalog collections in their archives, such as Duke University -- https://archives.lib.duke.edu/catalog/searscatalogs You might try contacting them to see if they would help.

OrthoFan

[Holodisc]

Thank you for the detailed response, I really appreciate it! I’ll take a look at the Sears catalogues as you suggested, and I think checking with the University is a great idea. It already sounds great to me, so I’m sure it’ll be even better once the reproducer is rebuilt.

I’m a big fan of the lesser-known phonograph brands, so I’m glad to add something from Sears to my collection. Thanks again!