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and again... the victor revere... the last shot's that horn that blasts out the bottom, as the machine was designed, to reflect the sound off the hardwood floor of whatever robber baron, industrialist, or hyper-wealthy bastard could have afforded this $275 machine in 1926... only about 3000 produced... sadly, unlike the credenza, only has a two-spring motor... but plays long enough on a full wind, and wow, what a sound...

I had a "Revere" that I bought in Paducah, Ky. in 1975, as I remember----no longer have it [@#$%^&*()!]. It was a remarkable sounding machine, and the horn facing the floor, when used on a wooden floor, not carpeted, filled the room with non-directional sound that was magnificent!
When I heard that machine for the first time, I went back and pulled out all my 1930 and earlier electrical recordings----and learned the difference playing those records on a machine that was built for them made. I don't find the claims made in advertising at the time are at all overstated. Those records [the best of them, that is] sounded so natural, and the balances which were often so bad when played back on more modern equipment, straightened out. One of the best examples I remember was a Landon Ronald conducted performance of Franck's "Variationes Symphonique" in which the piano sounded muffled until I heard it on the "Revere"--suddenly the balance was right and the piano was in the foreground where it belonged. Bob Ault

Brian - could you please upload these photos directly to the forum?

phonophan79 wrote:Brian - could you please upload these photos directly to the forum?

no problem... these were posted about a year ago when it seemed easier to just use the outside host... I had no idea that if you failed to log in regularly to photobucket, they stopped allowing your photos to appear from previous posts. no matter, for the past few months, I've been trying to just post photos directly to the forum.

brianu wrote:...whatever robber baron, industrialist, or hyper-wealthy bastard could have afforded this $275 machine in 1926... only about 3000 produced... sadly, unlike the credenza, only has a two-spring motor... but plays long enough on a full wind, and wow, what a sound...

Since $275 in 1926 equates to three or four thousand in today's money, I'm not sure that someone needed to be hyper wealthy, just comfortably well off. I have plenty of friends who've spent that much on their computers and televisions, and I wouldn't consider them hyper wealthy.

Not being acquainted with the parentage of any of the original purchasers of these machines I wouldn't know if any of them were bastards or not.

Great machine though. Would love to have one.

bbphonoguy wrote: Since $275 in 1926 equates to three or four thousand in today's money, I'm not sure that someone needed to be hyper wealthy, just comfortably well off. I have plenty of friends who've spent that much on their computers and televisions, and I wouldn't consider them hyper wealthy.

Not being acquainted with the parentage of any of the original purchasers of these machines I wouldn't know if any of them were bastards or not.

Great machine though. Would love to have one.

hmm... I really don't know many if any people who've ever spent three or four thousand on a tv or computer. also, so far as translating currency of the 20s into today's money, there are more than a few ways to do so that take into consideration - or ignore - various factors, and the differences in the resulting comparisons can be pretty dramatic. check:

http://eh.net/hmit/

beyond that, hyper was merely a qualifier. exclude it if it makes you happy and just say wealthy - either way, I don't think anyone but for those really at the top of the income scale in the mid to late 20s could have afforded a record player priced at close to $300. and bastards, well that was just a figure of speech rather than a literal reference to the fatherless, but I'm figuring you knew that.

brianu wrote:

bbphonoguy wrote: Since $275 in 1926 equates to three or four thousand in today's money, I'm not sure that someone needed to be hyper wealthy, just comfortably well off. I have plenty of friends who've spent that much on their computers and televisions, and I wouldn't consider them hyper wealthy.

Not being acquainted with the parentage of any of the original purchasers of these machines I wouldn't know if any of them were bastards or not.

Great machine though. Would love to have one.

hmm... I really don't know many if any people who've ever spent three or four thousand on a tv or computer. also, so far as translating currency of the 20s into today's money, there are more than a few ways to do so that take into consideration - or ignore - various factors, and the differences in the resulting comparisons can be pretty dramatic. check:

http://eh.net/hmit/

beyond that, hyper was merely a qualifier. exclude it if it makes you happy and just say wealthy - either way, I don't think anyone but for those really at the top of the income scale in the mid to late 20s could have afforded a record player priced at close to $300. and bastards, well that was just a figure of speech rather than a literal reference to the fatherless, but I'm figuring you knew that.

I knew you weren't being literal with the use of the word "bastard". Taking it seriously was a weak attempt at giving a humorous response. Guess it didn't work.

I also guess we can't be certain about how big an expense $275 would have appeared to a family back then. We can only know that $275 bought more then than it does now. Judging by the number of Credenzas sold, apparently a lot of people didn't mind spending two or three hundred dollars on a Victrola. Maybe it was considered as a necessary luxury?

My guess as to why so few Reveres were sold is that it's the same reason that makes it so desirable today. I think it was perceived as being too unusual when it first came out.

And for that much money you got virtually no record storage space. I don't think they were ever listed in the Canadian catalogue, but I have seen one up here...and of course it had the bottom portion of the legs cut off so it sat low and looked rather like a cedar chest with a crank.
Jim

They make great medicines for hyper children these days. And maybe he meant a red-headed stepchild when he made the unnecessary "bastard" statement. Either way, nice phonograph Brian. You have some great ones that are always a treat to see. Thanks for sharing.

Lenoirstreetguy wrote:And for that much money you got virtually no record storage space. I don't think they were ever listed in the Canadian catalogue, but I have seen one up here...and of course it had the bottom portion of the legs cut off so it sat low and looked rather like a cedar chest with a crank.
Jim

Let me say this about that....

1) AAAAAAAAAARRRRGH!!!!! WHY! WHY?!!?!

2) Wow! That must have really loused up the sound!