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I'm disappointed I always wanted one of these on my Diamond Disc . Add me to the group that thought that the Motrola automatically kept the spring wound so that one essentially had the convenience of an electric motor: release the turntable brake and when the spring tension began to wind down at a certain point the Motrola kicked in and wound it up again . Not so. Another myth of my youth shattered. George...your print material almost made up the disappointment. Fascinating!

Jim

Lenoirstreetguy wrote:I'm disappointed I always wanted one of these on my Diamond Disc . Add me to the group that thought that the Motrola automatically kept the spring wound so that one essentially had the convenience of an electric motor: release the turntable brake and when the spring tension began to wind down at a certain point the Motrola kicked in and wound it up again . Not so. Another myth of my youth shattered. George...your print material almost made up the disappointment. Fascinating!

Jim

I'm disappointed too.. . Now I don't even want to use it. As my Wife said...."it takes the romance away from the machine". After hearing this motor run, I can understand why you would not want it running while listening to your favorite music. After reading George's paper....I like how they state it will wind to play a 12" record. Lots of false claims from this company....??????. .

After reading over the Motrola booklet. I realized that these units came with a Edison socket type plug. So, since I had a spare and decided the Motrola would be just a display item.....I changed to just that. Was this a good idea and should I keep the standard plug it came on it with it??.

Since we seem to be in Motrola mode, I thought I'd scan this ad which I just this minute ran across in the November 6. 1920 Literary Digest Magazine...a wonderful news magazine. I'm sorting them. Not only do I live in the past , I'm up on its current events. This ad should have read, " Tired of the kids overwinding and stripping the gears yet again? A Motrola is the answer!"
Jim.

Jim,
That ad is very interesting. It would seem that Jones tried to rip Berliner off again by using his (Berliner) "a child can operate (work) it" slogan. He must have been a sneaky guy. also, this ad states any lamp or wall socket. I think I will keep the wall plug it came with around. However, I think it looks neat having the lamp socket fitting.

Has anybody ever seen one of these Motorola winders on an Edison DD? I certainly never have but seen a few on Victor Credenzas that worked well.

MTPhono wrote:Has anybody ever seen one of these Motorola winders on an Edison DD? I certainly never have but seen a few on Victor Credenzas that worked well.

I have one on a C-250. It's pictured in the Compendium.

George P.

The earliest electrification of homes in this country amounted to putting lighting fixtures on the ceiling or on the walls, and that's about all. Wall outlets were not routinely installed in these early setups. Since Edison lamps were furnished with screw bases from the very earliest years of the consumer trade, lighting fixtures were routinely equipped with these screw sockets. Early battery eliminators for radios were called "socket power units". If the radio was furnished with a mains power supply, the radio was said to be "socket powered". You'll see these terms used in the advertising of the early to mid 1920s. The name derives from these early sets having a male screw plug on the power cord which was intended to be screwed into a light fixture socket since wall outlets were not yet routinely available in homes. This is what you see on the cord of this Motrola.

Just to add clarity to this old thread, for a misconception above.

The way it works is essentially to just replace your arm motion in winding the spring. Thus, just like always, when you get up to change the record (and when applicable, the needle), you have the option of winding up the phono at the same time.

It goes like this: Open lid, lift reproducer, hit the button on the Motrola, change records, change needle if applicable. Motrola is whirring away during this, and is usually done before you are, shutting itself off.

It does not engage without your touch. You can use it during play but since they’re kinda noisy you would want to avoid that.