New Machine - Grafonola upright.... now with pictures !

[marcapra]

This Grafonola looks very similar to mine. But something looked different about it. Other than being in mahogany rather than walnut, I wasn't sure what. Then I realized that yours is a model 100, introduced in 1915, that has only one door knob and the door tilts down. Mine being a 150 has the usual two doors with separate bins that tilt out. BTW, thanks for tidying up the record bins for the pic! but all in all you've got a great machine there. Now I might have to post some pics of mine. It seems strange to me that a buyer would want to pay $50 more back then to buy my machine just to have two doors and separate tilt out bins. Does yours have pot metal problems in the reproducer or tone arm? Mine did, plus the motor gears were stripped so I had to buy a Favorite table model, or model 50, just to get a good motor and tone arm.

[Henry]

The Zenith table-top is untested, and from the same shop as the Grafonola. It is AM, old FM ?, & Short-wave. Model 7S633 or 78633.

The cord is really crunchy, so that needs replacement before testing.

The object it is sitting on top-of( under the blankets) is a late 1940's Zenith console, AM-FM (both bands!),shortwave, with a Cobra-matic (78-only) record changer.

The dial & function tabs on the table radio are remarkably similar to those on the console.

Your description of the Zenith console matches my memory of the one I mentioned: Cobramatic tone arm (BTW, I forgot to mention that it is a four-speed turntable, 33-45-78 AND 16!), AM-FM (+SW, maybe?) radio with the side tabs. My console has four doors: radio, turntable, speaker, and record storage compartments. The turntable compartment door is hinged on the bottom, and when opened (from the top, or course) the tt pulls forward with it. The cabinet is in a dark red "mahogany" finish. Since I'm not with the unit at the moment, I can't look for model and serial number. I may have more information on it in a week or so. Stay tuned and follow the story, as they used to say.

[De Soto Frank]

This Grafonola looks very similar to mine. But something looked different about it. Other than being in mahogany rather than walnut, I wasn't sure what. Then I realized that yours is a model 100, introduced in 1915, that has only one door knob and the door tilts down. Mine being a 150 has the usual two doors with separate bins that tilt out. BTW, thanks for tidying up the record bins for the pic! but all in all you've got a great machine there. Now I might have to post some pics of mine. It seems strange to me that a buyer would want to pay $50 more back then to buy my machine just to have two doors and separate tilt out bins. Does yours have pot metal problems in the reproducer or tone arm? Mine did, plus the motor gears were stripped so I had to buy a Favorite table model, or model 50, just to get a good motor and tone arm.

Marc,

Thanks for your comments !

Sorry I didn't bother to clean some PO's junk out of the storage area !

To my amazement, none of the pot metal joints were seized, not even the reproducer head attachment to the taper-tube.

That said, the lateral joint at the motorboard, and the reproducer neck both had "tight spots", so I judiciously sanded those areas, and doped them lightly with Permatex "Anti-Seize Compound".

Motor seems to run okay at first check, although it surely needs a clean and re-lube. Where the speed pointer is set in the photo (way below "S"), is where the machine presently seems to run at 78 - 80 rpm. Don't know if this is due to governor weights flaking or mis-adjustment of the control pointer. I find no tool marks on any of the screws, so I don't think anyone has worked on it much, if at all.

How does one identify the model # of the machine, eg: model 100 ? The only numbers I found were the serial number stamping in the mfr's info on the motor plate.


I will clean and polish this one up, and enjoy it... at least until I find another barrel-front Grafonola in Golden Oak at a price I can't refuse...

[De Soto Frank]

Zenith model numbers in the mid 1930s up to WWII were very descriptive of what the model was. The first "7" in the model number of your 7S633 indicates that it has 7 tubes. The "S" indicates that it is a 110 volt transformer-powered AC mains set. The 600 series were from model year 1942, and the remaining digits indicate the cabinet style.

The tone control tabs on the side of the dial were a version of what Zenith called the "Radiorgan" extended tone control system which began in the 1939 models. This was a popular feature which Zenith continued for several model years on most of their more elaborate sets, both table models and consoles.

Zenith radios and radio/phonos from this period are very collectible. They are also probably the best-documented of all the American radio brands which makes it easy to find out about them. Three books authored by H. Cones and J. Bryant are available from Schiffer and provide excellent in-depth and thorough coverage of these collectible Zeniths.

Thanks for the comments on the Zenith Radios, Greg ! A local EE / talking machine friend is a big fan of old Zeniths.

I will probably enlist his help to get my Cobra-Matic console going, as well as the little guy.

[De Soto Frank]

I think it is so cool when the name of the company or store that sold the machine is indicated. Sometimes it is stenciled on the machine and sometimes there is a brass or steel nameplate. Gives the machine some provenance. Most of what I have found are from cities or companies in the northeast (which makes sense).
One of my recent finds was evidently purchased from Lit Brother in Philadelphia.

Hi Jim,

I have a nice 1909 L-Door Victrola the Sixteenth that came from John Wanamaker & Son in Philly, and came complete with all box-type record folios, records (nearly all of them "Patent Label" VictorS), key, needles, and original bill of sale.

It is nice to have documentation on a machine...


"What, if anything, is known today about "Columbia Hall"? "

Henry - so far my research is limited to Google, which gave me nothing. I do know that in the 300-block of Adams Avenue, in Scranton, is a small 2nd story theatre / hall type space over what used to be "Leonard's Hardware". In the mid 1990's, the community chorus I sing with did a concert there, and while we were poking around the space, I discovered that it had originally been a Knights of Columbus Hall. So, I am thinking that rather than a dealer's decal, the "Columbia Hall, Scranton" decal may have been a "property of" ID ?

I need to contact the Lackawanna Historical Society to see if they have any info...


Frank

[woonettophone]

Re: original retailers, nice thread. A couple of weeks ago, I picked up an oil-finish oak VV-XI for a princely $40 (cabinet good; mechanicals messed up)sporting a lid stencil from the Plaut-Cadden Company in Norwich, CT. Jimmantwo's comment inspired me to investigate, and interestingly, the building still stands. It seems that after a long abandonment, what had once been "the" place in Norwich to buy one's piano or Victrola survived a tax sale in 2012, now sitting on the National Register, with an Irish restaurant/pub on the 1st floor. The phonograph. BTW, is looking quite stately after a major clean-up, with the motor headed to Wyatt Markus for physical therapy.

[phonojim]

Nice Columbia. You sure got lucky with that tonearm. Many of them I've seen have been frozen solid in at least one direction.

Regarding the Zenith radios: I don't have any idea of your experience with old electronics so I want to caution you about testing them. Basically, don't plug them in until you have done some chassis testing, especially for bad filter capacitors, wiring, etc. Failure to do this could cost you a power transformer within a few seconds. Then, when you actually power them up for the first time, it should be done with a variac which allows you to bring the line voltage up slowly while monitoring conditions within the chassis for faults. If you don't know how to do this, it is best to get in contact with someone who does. You may also go to the Antique Radio Forum for detailed advice about doing this.

http://antiqueradios.com/forums/index.php

Hope this helps,

Jim

[De Soto Frank]

Nice Columbia. You sure got lucky with that tonearm. Many of them I've seen have been frozen solid in at least one direction.

Regarding the Zenith radios: I don't have any idea of your experience with old electronics so I want to caution you about testing them. Basically, don't plug them in until you have done some chassis testing, especially for bad filter capacitors, wiring, etc. Failure to do this could cost you a power transformer within a few seconds. Then, when you actually power them up for the first time, it should be done with a variac which allows you to bring the line voltage up slowly while monitoring conditions within the chassis for faults. If you don't know how to do this, it is best to get in contact with someone who does. You may also go to the Antique Radio Forum for detailed advice about doing this.

http://antiqueradios.com/forums/index.php

Hope this helps,

Jim

Thanks Jim ! My other Columbia is a similar vintage "Favorite" , with the reproducer fused tight to the taper-tube. I've decided not to risk breakage in trying to remove it, as it seems to play well as-is, and the diaphragm gaskets are still pliable.

As for my electronics knowledge, it is fairly basic; I have learned enough about radios to ID bad filter caps, and to keep an eye on the plates of the rectifier tube when powering-up (if the start to glow red, that means shorted filter caps: shut-down immediately to avoid frying the transformer primary).

I may wait until I can get together with my friend, and fire-it up in his workshop. I believe he has a Variac.

My postwar console Zenith has bad filter caps, but of the "open" variety...

I appreciate the cautionary advice !

Frank

[De Soto Frank]

Huzzah for the Lackawanna Historical Society !

I had e-mailed them yesterday inquiring about my Grafonola and the decal from "Columbia Hall, Scranton PA"

Here is the reply that awaited me this morning:


Thank you for your research request to the Lackawanna Historical Society regarding Columbia Hall. I was able to find a listing for Columbia Hall in the Scranton City directories, and you are correct in your assumption that it was dealer for the record player. The store opened in 1918 on 215 Lackawanna Avenue; they operated until 1921 when they were either bought out or just merged with the Scranton Talking Machine Company, another dealer of Victrolas and records that opened in 1915. Scranton Talk, as it later became known, slowly broadened their inventory until they were essentially a department store, selling men's and women's clothing, jewelry and appliances. By the 1970s, the store sold only furniture; it closed in the late 1980s.

Attached to this email is an advertisement from the 1918 directory for Columbia Hall.

I hope this helps; please let me know if you need anything else!

Thanks
Sarah


Further sleuthing revealed that Scranton Talking Machine Company ( later just "Scranton Talk" ) was a block East on Lackawanna, at 315-319 E. Lackawanna Avenue.

[De Soto Frank]

Present locale:

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=215+Lack ... CAoQ_AUoAg