The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I am refinishing my first VV XI...and the casters spark some curiosity. What years were these used and on what other models. They seem to cheapen the furniture, Im so tempted to scrap them. Im curious as to why they were deemed useful if a piece like this is normally planted in the parlor.

During the era of the VV-XI I think all uprights, with the exception of the X, had casters. Jerry B.

Upright Victrolas had castors so they could be pushed out in the middle of the room and people could dance around them.

Another factoid is the reason they had locks is so your servants would not play your records when you were not at home and wear them out.

Snob appeal.

Covah wrote:Upright Victrolas had castors so they could be pushed out in the middle of the room and people could dance around them.

Another factoid is the reason they had locks is so your servants would not play your records when you were not at home and wear them out.

Snob appeal.

Well, let me tell you how I would deal with MY servants, those lazy slackers! Oh, wait....I don't have servants. Nevermind.

a12548 wrote:I am refinishing my first VV XI...and the casters spark some curiosity. What years were these used and on what other models. They seem to cheapen the furniture, Im so tempted to scrap them. Im curious as to why they were deemed useful if a piece like this is normally planted in the parlor.

I have a VV-XI with the original casters, the metal ones. They are identical to those found on other furniture from that time period, as I remember from my grandparents' houses. I always questioned the value and utility of these things, because any attempt to use them to move the piece will result in permanent marring of any hardwood floor, especially with a weighty piece like a floor model Victrola. Here's what I would do, if I wanted to move the thing: buy a set (hardware store) of four Teflon®™ pads designed for the purpose, and place one pad under each caster. You can then slide the piece easily across the floor, without damaging anything.

In short, don't remove or discard (horrors!) them, as they are original to the piece, but don't try to use them as intended, either.

Henry, That's very good advice. Jerry B.

Thanks, Jerry. The voice of bitter experience!

The REAL reason many better quality upright gramophones had casters, is the same reason many chaise lounges, tables & davenports etc had casters.
Before affordable wall to wall carpets & reliable vacuum cleaners started to gain popularity in the 1930s, the average home used Turkish carpets (or similar) in main rooms, and linoleum or oil cloth in secondary rooms, with an area of floor boards around the circumference of the floor covering that was waxed or black japanned.
Normally, anything that would be deemed as heavy by a housewife or maid, was put on casters so they could be moved more easily, so carpets could be taken outside & beaten once every week or two, lino & oil cloth could be mopped & waxed regularly, and the exposed wood floor boards could be waxed or recoated with black japan every 3-6 months.

Many, perhaps all, Edison floor models had them too. Some, like my A250, had caster wheels made of a hard felt, which would, I suppose, be much less likely to damage floors. Alas they get quite flat on the side next to the floor when then sit for years and I have found no maker of good reproductions.

Clay