The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I was going to dig out a Polk Radiotrola and take a photo, when I remembered that we included it in Discovering Antique Phonographs. Here it is (click on the photo twice to enlarge): It sounds quite good!

Unfortunately, I almost never use it, nor even see it since it's in a closet...

George P.

Here is a model RCA offered to connect to their radio's.

Got digging in my Lafayette Radio catalogues and here's a little gem from 1933. It was offered in several configurations and this was the cheapest. The description on page 50 makes it very clear that all you're buying at that price was a turntable and pickup...with no amplifier. If you wanted it with 33 ⅓ capabilities it cost $19.50. I'd have bought one of these.

Jim

Here's the GE-badged version of the RCA end table unit shown in the advert. This was on eBay some months back, this pic is one I saved from that listing. This GE table, by the way, featured a top that slid back, rather than lifting up----no need to remove magazines, ash trays or sleeping cats to play a record.

I think I have the first RCA cheapo turntable, which I got for 5cents over the original selling price ( $10 vs $9.95) ... it has a magnetic pick-up, synchronous motor which must be hand-started, and an unattached wooden cover. I've only ever used it with headphones, and it generates enough power to sound halfway decent with those.

Here's a 1936 ad for Victor " Higher Fidelity Recording" and the small " record player." 1936 was when record sales really began to turn around after the nadir of 1932-33. And actually " higher fidelity" wasn't just ad hype: some of these 'thirties recordings are really fine. Some swing sides are amazing...IF you can find them from a non dubbed master. This was the trick up here: why wire Camden for a fresh master when we can just dub one from a worn pressing....or whatever they did.

Jim