The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Gumwood (They often lumped Gum, Poplar and Birch together) was really a popular choice to make an otherwise inexpensive wood look pretty much like mahogany. It was almost always quarter sawn in those days to help make it stable. In one old Kimball piano catalog it says something like, "Our pianos come in Oak finish, Walnut or Mahogany finish. Our Mahogany finish is especially nice". I've always thought that funny for whatever reason and Kimball did have a nice mahogany finish and the wood under the finish is almost bone white.
One thing though to remember is that the red dyes 80 years ago faded really badly so we aren't really seeing that stuff they way they did when it was new. At the same time the finish itself will often darken and oxidize so when they were new, they looked pretty good. Blue was another color they had a lot of trouble with so it wasn't used much, especially if it was going to be around light. And it faded to a horrible green color. As a side note, blue was usually used on porch ceilings back in those days because bugs (wasps) won't build nests on it and flies won't spot it all up either. I used to work for an old painter when I was young and he was an interesting guy to pick his brain on how or why they did some of the stuff they did back in the 20's when he started out as a house painter. He also woodgrained dashboards for the Packard company for awhile in the 30's. I don't know why, but I never really asked Bill much about that one.

If the part with the Mozart transfer is a separate piece of wood, I could sure be wrong about the finish. I'd look for places that are difficult or take a great deal of effort to strip such as the record storage area. Take a look inside the lower doors. Generally a refinisher leave clues revealing his efforts. Jerry

The thing that catches my eye is that it's a vertical cut machine. I wonder which records it was marketed to play? Pathé? It surely wouldn't be appropriate for Edisons. As far as I know, there were no "Mozart" vertical (or lateral, for that matter) disks on the market--or, more properly, I've certainly never seen or heard of one.

Once again, ignorance of the correct record for a phono photo rears its ugly head!

drh wrote:The thing that catches my eye is that it's a vertical cut machine. I wonder which records it was marketed to play? Pathé? It surely wouldn't be appropriate for Edisons. As far as I know, there were no "Mozart" vertical (or lateral, for that matter) disks on the market--or, more properly, I've certainly never seen or heard of one.

Once again, ignorance of the correct record for a phono photo rears its ugly head!

I'm certain that the machine has a universal arm, which someone clueless has set to the vertical position.

The wood was either Poplar or Birch stained and finished to look like Mahogany.
Harvey Kravitz

Jerry B. wrote:What type of wood was used on a Victor O? Jerry

drh wrote, " As far as I know, there were no "Mozart" vertical (or lateral, for that matter) disks on the market--or, more properly, I've certainly never seen or heard of one."

http://majesticrecord.com/labelsm2.htm

(Scroll down; the labels are listed alphabetically).

Now you've seen two label styles for one, at least.

Best wishes, Mark