Remember, all those trolling motors had to come from somewhere. Perhaps that happened to this one a long time ago when it was totally obsolete and you couldn't give it away. I got a Victrola XI that way when I was about 11 years old (would have been around 1956). Even the second hand dealers wouldn't buy them then. I got a tip from a dealer that this lady had approached him with one for sale and he turned it down but told me that if I were to offer her $5.00 I could probably take it home. I did and she was delighted to get even that much for it rather than to have to set it out with the trash.
I agree that these are horrible examples. People should NOT do that to antique phonographs. At least with antique phonographs it's not gotten as bad as you see with 1960s console TVs--where the rage with some white trash (yes, I use the term AGAIN) is to convert them into FISH TANKS!
"You must serve music, because music is so enormous and can envelop you into such a state of perpetual anxiety and torture--but it is our first and main duty"
-- Maria Callas, 1968 interview.