Columbia Viva-tonal Phonograph model 600, 700 and 810 series

[barnettrp21122]

I saw this machine sell at an auction today, Feb 25th, in Charlottesville VA. It had no markings on the case, and the works were Brunswick, including the crank, which explains why it sticks out too far. The tonearm seemed to be a cobbled Ultona, with some generic orthophonic head on the lateral-playing side. Nothing really looked right with the whole package, yet it sold for $160.00, plus 15% buyers penalty and tax!
There was a much more interesting Heywood-Wakefield wicker upright that I'd guess was repainted, though nicely done. It went for $375.00
Bob

[schweg]

Yep- that was the auction. I'm glad I didn't bug my brother to go over. I also saw there was an Amberola 75 and a bunch of cylinders. Did those go for a lot or were there bargains to be had?

Steve S

[barnettrp21122]

The Amberola 75 went for $375.00 (plus penalty and tax), which was okay. It had a couple issues that'd be easy to fix: The pivot thingy for the bottom of the horn rim was missing, along with the horn suspension spring. The carriage needed adjustment for proper feedscrew contact.
The cylinders were disorganized, with mostly common titles that I noticed. There were 4-5 Electrophones in with them. The cylinders were sold by the shelf lot of about 2 dozen per shelf. Each shelf averaged around 60 dollars apiece. The wax cylinders showed varying degrees of mold or haze.
A tray lot of misc small parts, including seven TungsTone needle tins (some with unused needles) and a few reproducers of average to below-average condition went for $120.00.

Bob

[syncopeter]

So it was a true Frankenphone if not a Crapophone in an original case. I did like the design though, but then I'm a sucker for Art Deco furniture. These late acoustic gramophones are hard to come by, most of them sold in the tropics, where climate was not friendly to them, to say the least. By 1935 most of the old and new world had been electrified, so most companies had stopped making acoustic cabinet and tabletop wind-ups. Only the portables were still on sale and HMV's model 102 was made until 1958!

[OrthoFan]

"barnettrp21122
I saw this machine sell at an auction today, Feb 25th, in Charlottesville VA. It had no markings on the case, and the works were Brunswick, including the crank, which explains why it sticks out too far. The tonearm seemed to be a cobbled Ultona, with some generic orthophonic head on the lateral-playing side. Nothing really looked right with the whole package, yet it sold for $160.00, plus 15% buyers penalty and tax!
There was a much more interesting Heywood-Wakefield wicker upright that I'd guess was repainted, though nicely done. It went for $375.00
Bob"



Actually, based on the description of the late model Sears Silvertone Phonograph illustrated below, and discussed in a previous thread --

http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=97

(CLICK IMAGE TO MAKE IT FULL SIZE)


-- it sounds like it may have been all original and not a Frankenphone.

As noted in the ad, the Silvertone was equipped with a Brunswick four spring motor, as well as a "balanced" tonearm which shows up in the ad illustration as identical to the one in the photograph. (Whether any decal or Silvertone emblem appeared inside the cabinet, I don't know.)

As I alluded to in my post on the previous page, there was some speculation that Sears had somehow acquired some left over Brunswick parts and was using them inside these late models.

Wished I'd have seen the machine in person......

[gramophoneshane]

So it was a true Frankenphone if not a Crapophone in an original case. I did like the design though, but then I'm a sucker for Art Deco furniture. These late acoustic gramophones are hard to come by, most of them sold in the tropics, where climate was not friendly to them, to say the least. By 1935 most of the old and new world had been electrified, so most companies had stopped making acoustic cabinet and tabletop wind-ups. Only the portables were still on sale and HMV's model 102 was made until 1958!

HMV was still selling the 152 upright, 179 table model & 113 "transportable" at least until 1940.

[barnettrp21122]

Well, before you dismiss the deco phonograph completely as a Frankenphone, you might want to read this post string --

http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=97

The comments were made about the same ad I posted on the previous page of this string.

Sears late model.JPG

(CLICK IMAGE TO MAKE IT FULL SIZE)


Apparently, there was a connection between Brunswick and Sears, for their very late cabinet models -- the motor and from the looks of the illustration, the tone arm as well!

Well I'll be darned! Looking closer, the reproducer could've been correct too on the auctioned example! Thanks for pointing this out!
Bob

[OrthoFan]

Well I'll be darned! Looking closer, the reproducer could've been correct too on the auctioned example! Thanks for pointing this out!
Bob

Hi Bob:

I was editing my post above when you posted.

I have to admit when I first heard about this model, I couldn't figure out Sear's logic of using an old style (pre-1925) tonearm with the cabinet, since they also sold "modern" components such as correctly tapered tone arms and sound boxes to retrofit or upgrade older style talking machines. Based on what I've seen in other illustrations, the horn, itself, is quite long, running to the bottom of the cabinet. A better designed, more correctly tapered tonearm would have enhanced the sound quality considerably.

[schweg]

Bob, thanks for the additional info on the other items. Sounds as if there was more than 1 phono collector among the buyers. Thanks also for the follow-up on the likelihood that this really was an original Silvertone although with Brunswick components.

Since I'm the one who innocently (that's my story and I'm sticking to it) hijacked this post- which was originally about Columbia Vivatonals (which to my eye that Silvertone looked kinda like)- I wanted to get back to my original ques about production numbers for the Columbia's..

Any ideas on how many or the various models were made? My brother got me a 650, also in VA, and I've never seen one before or since. Baumbach's Columbia book does not include production estimates and the internet contains very little about Vivatonal phonographs...Maybe they are just not that collectible?

Steve

[OrthoFan]

Any ideas on how many or the various models were made? My brother got me a 650, also in VA, and I've never seen one before or since. Baumbach's Columbia book does not include production estimates and the internet contains very little about Vivatonal phonographs...Maybe they are just not that collectible?
Steve

A number of models were omitted from Baumbach's Columbia book. For instance, I spotted this ad, via Google News Archive Search, for a Columbia Viva-Tonal portable that I'd never seen before. (The one on the bottom half of the ad.) Seems, like Victor, Columbia offered portables for all budgets.

(Click on photo to make full size.)

As for production stats for the various Columbia models, I've always heard that none exist.

OF