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De Soto Frank wrote: A whole year seems to be a long time to have put a new Victrola on lay-away ?

I have a list of payments for a Victrola "80" that was purchased a few days before Christmas 1922, but not paid off until early 1924, as I recall. (The Victrola's here too.) I don't think the Victrolas were normally put on lay-away, but simply paid off in installments, with interest added.

Too bad the original residence is gone. I like being able to see the traces of earlier owners, and it's so rare that we have that opportunity. Oh well - you have the important parts!

George P.

De Soto Frank wrote:For what it's worth, my L-door XVI, s/n 19362 C(stamped over top "B") has a round-hole Exhibition.

The original sales receipt is from John Wanamaker, February 1911.

My own L-door Victrola XVI, also from 1911, has the triangular opening in the needle chuck. Perhaps the C-series ushered in this change? Yours is a B overstamped as a C, mine is serial number 37788 C. Mine still has the bullet brake, the round speed indicator has the 78/80 speed markings (earlier versions were stamped 76/80, IIRC). Mine came with a full set of the albums with the 17 numbered sleeves in each, versus the record boxes (which I'd much prefer any day).

Mine also came with what----I assume---is the original receipt. The clerk in 1911 evidently felt that the barest minimum of information was sufficient. We only have the customer's name, and for address it merely notes "City". The receipt is from the Cincinnati branch of the Rudolph Wurlitzer Co., is hand-dated July 20, 1911, and notes the sum of $222.40 "to merchandise" was paid July 19,1911 (date in the inkstamp, with clerk's initials). Were it not for the fact that this receipt was carefully tucked into the drawer with the record catalogs and ephemera, and the bright brassy "Wurlitzer" tag inside the lid, it would be easy to dismiss this receipt as just a scrap used as a bookmark in the Red Seal catalog.

I got this Victrola in Washington DC about 20 years ago, it came from a local auction house that liquidates estates. This Victrola still has the inventory tag tied to the speaker door from a DC moving and storage company where it (evidently) sat in covered storage for decades. The address on the tag lists the old address of the downtown storage facility, which was a massive fortress-like building and was replaced in 1965 by the Washington Post offices. This is the second L-door Victrola I have owned. My first one, which was "brought back from the dead", I sold to a collector friend who never paid me for it. Still---good things come to he who waits, I am delighted to now own this gorgeous, pristine Victrola.

Kirkwood,

That's a lovely example ! You're lucky to have the instruction book and hang-tag !

Does the Exhibition reproducer on your machine have a serial # stamped in the back-side, between the knurled rim and the rubber mounting flange?

Also, is there a date in the lower left-hand corner of the license label, inside the fold-down door on the back of the cabinet ?

My machine bears a label dated "August I, 1909", with the machine serial # 19362 in red rubber-stamp in the upper right of said label.


Regards,

DS Frank

Zeppy wrote:

De Soto Frank wrote:For what it's worth, my L-door XVI, s/n 19362 C(stamped over top "B") has a round-hole Exhibition.

The original sales receipt is from John Wanamaker, February 1911.

actually, I was asking in part to figure out which to use on my 1909 VTLA...so it is worth quite a bit.

So how late was Victor still making the "VTLA" ?

(Or were unsold stocks of VTLA still being sold that late ?)


Apparently, my machine was manufactured in/around August, 1909, but did not find an owner until February 1911...

Greetings DeSoto Frank!

Well, the Exhibition reproducer is marked "B14"---that's a mighty short serial number, but---that's all that's stamped in that rim. I removed the little brush and---nope, nothing hiding under there either.

I got this wheeled around (I forgot to mention that the albums are pretty full of records yet) and the label date inside is February 24, 1911.
The label has a handwritten "37788" on the top left, and on the top right a red ink-stamped "37088" where the zero was written over with a (correcting) 7 in ink.

Sorry this photo of the labels is so blurry. Guess my hand moved as I snapped the pic.

The hang tag on the knob is the one from the Security Storage Co of Washington DC, not anything from VTM Co. The instruction booklet is neat. Interesting that the instruction booklet tells how to pack the Victrola back up again, evidently owners were expected to keep their packing crate? The booklet for recording the contents of the albums has one page for album "I" noting that it held: K's new records, "fox trots" etc. Not all of the records got listed in the neat script, I found my one and only copy of the the Charleston in album "H".

It's clear that this Victrola was a possession of pride in the Williamson household. I continue to try to keep this in as good a state as it was when I bought it. In the spirit of full disclosure, I did have to make one repair. The Victrola evidently came to the auction gallery locked up, and they pried up the lid and removed/discarded the old lock and strikeplate. I got a replacement lock assembly that fit (from a very generous fellow collector), but the pry marks live on.

De Soto Frank wrote:

Zeppy wrote:

De Soto Frank wrote:For what it's worth, my L-door XVI, s/n 19362 C(stamped over top "B") has a round-hole Exhibition.

The original sales receipt is from John Wanamaker, February 1911.

actually, I was asking in part to figure out which to use on my 1909 VTLA...so it is worth quite a bit.

So how late was Victor still making the "VTLA" ?

(Or were unsold stocks of VTLA still being sold that late ?)


Apparently, my machine was manufactured in/around August, 1909, but did not find an owner until February 1911...

The transition occurred in 1909, and there are XVI that have the decorative trim under the lid that are marked XVI on the data plate. On an interesting side note, I have two different instruction books for my machine. The only difference between the two is one says "for the Victor victrola" and the other says "Victrola XVI." I think both were printed in 1909. The Victor data book has the transition happening in the 12000 range of serial numbers (mine is in the 8000s).

Zeppy wrote:

So how late was Victor still making the "VTLA" ?

(Or were unsold stocks of VTLA still being sold that late ?)


Apparently, my machine was manufactured in/around August, 1909, but did not find an owner until February 1911...

The transition occurred in 1909, and there are XVI that have the decorative trim under the lid that are marked XVI on the data plate. On an interesting side note, I have two different instruction books for my machine. The only difference between the two is one says "for the Victor victrola" and the other says "Victrola XVI." I think both were printed in 1909. The Victor data book has the transition happening in the 12000 range of serial numbers (mine is in the 8000s).[/quote]


(Back to the reproducer question) Given the early nature of your machine, it would seem that a "round-chuck" Exhibition would have been what was supplied with your machine. Although, a gold-plated triangle-chuck could be considered a reasonable owner-upgrade ?

The round-chuck Exhibition on my XVI (1909-10) has a six-digit serial number stamped into the back-side of the body.

DS Frank

Some more pics from my XVI ( 19362 B/C ) - license label, reproducer, cabinet #.

Frank,

I'd be interested in knowing whether your lid decal says "Victor Victrola" or "Victrola."

Thanks -

George P.

Hi George,

It just says "Victrola"...

Also, no geometric-carved band between the lid-lip and the cabinet doors, just a plain inset.



Frank