The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Hi,
As a few of you requested, I had my niece take more close-up pictures. I have added them to the previous ones on Skydrive at the same link as you will see in my original post below. A close up of the celluloid tag is included. The name I could not read before is shown well. It is the name of the manufacturer of the tag; "The Whitehead and Hoag Company". I am leaving my original post below, unedited.

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Hi, I have been a lurker here for a few weeks. I was doing research on items from my late mother’s estate and happened across this forum. The information found here was invaluable in allowing me to identify the victrola my mother and father purchased from an antique store in the 70’s. My experiences with estate sales people, including those that claim to be antique experts, have been less than valuable, compared to what I have found here. Based on a forum recommendation I found here, I have also spoken with Karen Johnson (wife of Bob Johnson, AKA Mr. Victor). Unfortunately, Bob has been ill and in the hospital. I have decided rather than to list the subject victrola on E-bay, Craigslist and the like, I would give the members of this forum the first opportunity to own this great machine.

The details based on my amateur inspection are as follows. The machine has been used for just display in my parent’s home for about 40 years. It is fully functional. I cranked it up, released the turn table lock and it spun fine. There was a record on the turn table so I lightly put the needle down and it played fine. The speed control works fine as well. There is a knob on the back bracket that I don’t have a picture of yet. The cabinet is mahogany and the finish looks original. There is a dull spot on the top of the lid where a doily and vase sat. It appears the area will clean up OK, however, I am no expert. There is a “NOTICE” sticker in the back of the horn box that has a printed date of February 1, 1907. It also has the same serial number, 1948, hand written on the upper right corner of this sticker. In the back of the record storage area there is another sticker with “Style A” and a “P” inside a rectangle. It also has some very small print with what appears to be a company name. I’ll try and get a better picture of this sticker. There is a spare needle storage holder on the left side of the turntable area. There are also some spare needles. Five of the record storage folders have letters on the front and appear to be original. There are three with no letters that appear newer. There is also a different folder in one of the record storage bays. It is much narrower and looks newer. I think that two folders are missing, assuming it came with all bays full. It is quite dusty inside, especially inside the record storage area. I did not dust it prior to taking a few snap shots. The machine is located at my sister’s house near San Diego, California. I will show the machine to serious buyers by appointment only since, I live 30 miles away. If you are too far away, I will try and field any questions via E-mail. Also, you will have to arrange your own shipping since I have no idea how to ship such a nice machine.

My niece has a better camera she uses to take pictures for my sister’s E-bay store (non-victrola related). I will try and get her to take some better pictures in a few days. In the mean time, I have posted the snapshots on Microsoft’s Skydrive file storage site. The second one of the “NOTICE” was taken with a magnifying glass in front of the sticker. As you page through the pictures, you can use the “View Original” to see a larger version. Hopefully I will be able to post a link that will work OK. https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=2b4c3721 ... &sc=Photos

This machine appears to be in better condition than the E-bay machine that I saw in a post here. It appears to be about on par with the one currently listed on http://www.intertique.com. Anyone seriously interested in making an offer can contact me via e-mail. Selling it without an estate sales company or auction house being involved allows me to be more flexible on price.

Any comments or corrections to my description and terminology would also be appreciated.

Happy Listening,

Dennis

The boxes with no letters are the correct, original boxes for this model.

Thank you for the expertise! I had no idea because of the appearance.

Best Regards,

Dennis

This appears to be a fine machine. I would like to point out to collectors that this machine is a late one. I have been the proud owner of three flat tops through the years and I discovered there are at least 4 variations of the Flat top cabinet type. Early serial numbers had the small needle drawer located just above the speaker doors, Then that design of multiple, horizontally carved lines remained, but that area was no longer a needle drawer. Needle cups appeared inside near the turntable (My current machine is serial 789 is this style). The third design I witnessed, the detail above the speaker doors became a bit simpler with a contoured pair of horizontal details, and finally the area above the speaker doors became plain as in this example. This is the obvious evolution to the XVI, reason I say this is because this machine from the "neck" down appears to be identical to an L door VTLA or XVI regarding the area above the speaker doors. There were several other subtle differences in the VTLA cabinets over their short life span, but this cabinet was for me the most interesting detail to point out. I really like your machine it is a good thing it is more than 3K miles from New England!

Many thanks for the information. That helps me understand the variations in the VTLA photos I saw at mrvictor.com He has pictures of numbers 583, 635, 902, 1839 and 3 in one picture without numbers. I had seen the differences but didn't really understand the details of the progression. I had also seen number 788 at liveauctioneers.com which did not have the needle storage up above. The machine I saw at intertique.com did not list the number but it did look the same as my late mother's number 1948.

Thanks again for the comments,

Dennis

New pictures added to the same Skydrive link listed in the original post.

I'm finally getting ready to make an effort to sell the VTLA on Ebay and Craigslist. I figured I'd see if there are any new interests here before I do that.

Thanks,

Dennis

I imagine a lot of us are curious about the price. Jerry

Dennis,
I would pay you 2500.00 for this machine in a split second if you were on the East Coast. Been looking for one for a long time.
Ronnie

That's a nice looking Pooley flat top! Surely you should be able to get at least $3-4k for it!

Garret