The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I found my first talking machine, a Victor VV-IV in the town dump when I was 12 years old. My dad got it working for me and I traded it for a box of Green Lantern comic books. That was back in 1968. Today while my better half and I were driving home from grocery shopping, along Route 94 in Warren County New Jersey, we spotted a very rough looking DD out in the trash. We turned around and threw it into the Griswold station wagon and took it home. (totally against her wishes by the way) The cabinet is in very rough shape, the gold hardware including the reproducer is very oxidized, and it was full of mouse droppings and dead bugs. It still retains an original but broken grille, and it's original turntable felt which is still in good shape. The wood knob on the gold crank handle is gone and the mute ball was used by the mice. BUT here's the kicker: I wound it up and it played. It played both sides of the DD record easily with power to spare, although the motor rumbles a bit. How in the world does this thing still actually work and sound good in the horrible condition that it is in? The reproducer is still in top playing condition, but very oxidized with the gold plate badly spotted up. I think the cabinet is beyond hope since most of it is just peeling away and loose. But it's all there including the record deviders. And the darn thing plays great! Edison sure built these DD to take a licking and keep on ticking, even when stored in a musty old basement or barn!!

I've got tears running down my cheeks. After a story like that you've got to spruce it up a bit and show us some "after" photos. Good story. Give my best wishes to your wife. (She needs it!) I like the phonomobile too. Jerry

Nice find.

That will clean up much better than you think it will. I could spend a few very happy hours on that armed with a vacuum cleaner, a Swiffer duster, some Goop, and some Howard's, and have a very presentable machine, no problem.

You'll also need a lid support rod, but that should be pretty easy to get. I'll bet someone on the board has a bunch of them that need good homes

Check behind the record storage area. I found an envelope full of money once. JUST KIDDING It was all the original paper work from lubrication and unpacking instruction to the letter from the seller R.S.Williams & Sons Ltd. I'm sure the sons were just there to carry the phonograph into the home.
Kevan
Oh Mine is the S19 I play it all the time

Definitely a worthwhile project to bring this machine back from its brush with death. It has a great story with it and does not look all that bad that a little elbow grease could'nt fix.

They must have put that model out with hardware in nearly every finish. I had a mahogany one with oxidized bronze fittings and I've got an oak one with gold fittings.

Glad that machine was rescued.

I found the lid support arm (gold) along with some screws and a square nut under all the mouse fluff and droppings I cleaned out of the cabinet. There was no money or papers behind the record storage dividers but there was a small oil can. No label on the base but it looks just like the Edison oil can in one of my other DD machines. Yes, I think the cabinet can be saved but the lid and backside is missing alot of veneer as well as the lower part of both sides. Possible water damage also to the legs. Signs of mud inside the machine too. The door is still solid with some bubbling veneer inside and the original knob is long gone. The gold colored metal parts are in terrible oxidized spotted (brown) condition also. The motor will purrrrr once I re-grease and oil her up some tomorrow. The turntable is not warped and the original cloth is dirty but 100% intact. I guess mice don't like green felt since they seemed to prefer the mute ball PS: The wagon is my deceased fathers 1990 Ford LTD Crown Victoria Country Squire with only 63K on it. You could say it was the "SUV" of it's day - the Griswold family vacation cruiser. It was not traded in during the "Cash-For-Klunkers" program thank God! That would have been a crime to crush a perfect station wagon like dads.

OK