The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

A few weeks ago, I had a bit of talking machine luck!

Out of the blue, I got a call at home from a well respected elderly lady in my home town.
Other than hearing her name mentioned before, I had never met her personally. Turns out she got my number from my boss at the antique shop I work in... so she calls.
She says to me "is this the young man who likes the old victrolas?" I said yes it is, she says..well.. I have a victrola I want you to come and take a look at. I said ok, does it need repair? or is it something you are looking to sell? She said Oh no it works fine, when can you come take a look. We set up a time and I told her i would come and take a look. (not having a clue what i was going to look at)

A few days later, I go to her house and meet Mrs. Socoro for the first time. I say hello and shake her hand..she says to me.. come in the kitchen i have coffee ready. so after having coffee and talking about the house and some of the other antiques she had around the house, she finally brings up the victrola (which i had yet to see, trying to be polite) I followed her into a room and to my surprise it was an early style victor 14 with the cute queenann legs! Beautiful condition. I explained a bit about the machine, telling her it was an early style, and more scarce than the later ones. I asked her again if she was interested in selling it? she said to me "well before we discuss that let me show you the others" I said you have more? she said 2 more.


To make a long story short Mrs. Socoro then showed me a VTLA VV-XX (VTLA domed lid,and gold carvings!!!)
And in the Attic was a victor c.

I told Mrs Socoro, The machines she has were worth a lot of money and i could not even come close to giving her an accurate price (other than maybe the 14).
She said to me you are a very honest young man, and then she said and I have also done my homework. Looking younger than I am people sometimes underestimate my knowledge of these things... She had looked up all the information on the internet. I said ohhh than why did you ask me to come over? she said to me, my father did very well for himself, Im starting to down size and he just loved his victrolas and everyone around town knows you as the 'phonograph kid'. So you take them and enjoy them. I SAID I CANT DO THAT, AS MUCH AS I WOULD WANT TO. I offered to sell them for her (and maybe take a portion of the profit) but she refused and said she just wants to know that they will be well kept and looked after and enjoyed, as they were basically family heirlooms she didn't have room for anymore. And, with that, I inherited (so to speak) the find of a lifetime. It was one of those things that you think 'that never happens to ME', only this time... it did. It was like basically winning the lottery and that, as they say is that. (And Mrs. Socoro and I have since become good friends, I'm helping her pack and move and sell stuff and we have coffee every Tuesday afternoon...)

And thats my story, not only did I get three amazing machines for nothing, I also made a really great new friend.
It Amazing to me that machines and antiques can bring the most unlikely people together.

Nice story, and yes, honesty does pay -- quite regularly, in fact.

What a wonderful story! Honesty is indeed the best policy, for a number of reasons, whether it results in personal gain or not. But when it does, it's all the sweeter - and when it's in the form of such nice talking machines, it's astounding. Good for you and Mrs. Socoro - - you've both benefited. Good karma...

George P.

Awesome story. Now one day you can do this for someone else, maybe even with the same machines. I had a old gent give me a phonograph when I was a teenager. At the time I could never have afforded a real machine. He gave me a very nice Edison Suitcase Home and a crapophone. All he said is, "don't ever sell it, give it away too". One day I plan to, well not the crapophone ;P.

"don't ever sell it, give it away too"

I feel the same way. Whenever I am given something for my collection, I find that I cannot sell it when I am done. I prefer to give it away to someone who will want and enjoy it, just as it was given to me. I have also purchased antiques that I knew needed lots of work, just to give them to friends and family when I am done. I picked up an American Walnut VV-100 cheap; fixed the broken spring, rebuilt the reproducer, cleaned the cabinet, etc. I gave it to a friend of mine, who now displays it prominently in his living room and loves to demonstrate it. I get such joy from seeing how much he loves a machine, that most collectors wouldn’t have even thought about.

I’d love to see pictures of your new machines.

My Eldridge Johnson model C came from an elderly friend about 1980. Even at the time is was worth something even in its incomplete condition. He collected radios and this meant nothing to him and I told him it was worth more that he thought. He insisted I take it and 2 other incomplete Johnson C machines. I was able to scrounge up the rest of the parts over the years and completed one.

I have a very nice cylinder music box with 4 interchangeable cylinders. Another elderly man knew I like this sort of thing and asked me if I knew anyone who might buy it. I said I did have a friend who could probably afford it and asked what his price was. $350 he told me. I told him that seemed very cheap and he said he knew that it was. I asked why he was selling it so cheaply and he replied with a smile that he hoped I would buy it and actually do something with it. He had owned it many years and never did the work on it. Long story short, I bought it and then took it to a repairman. It looks and sounds great and I love owning it. He was thrilled to see it restored and and said that it confirmed to him that I was the right one to sell it to.
Dave D

"Always be sincere …… whether you mean it or not." - Michael Flanders, "The Reluctant Cannibal"

But that's a definite karmic blessing, I'd say…

Bill

Photos? Not to sound like Doubting Thomas here, but...