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http://easternshore.craigslist.org/atq/5481389431.html

I've had bees nests and dead mice in Victrolas over the years, but I've not had butterflies. Oh well, it's cheap.
He even says as much.

That red date stamp on the back of the cabinet is something I've never seen before either. Kind of interesting.

Oh, sure. They always tell you that it's cheap to get the Butterly fixed. Then you buy it and you find out it's another $2000 just to get the Butterfly fixed. Which just shows to go you that cheap is relative to how much moola you've got in your pocket at a given moment. To the chap who just pocketed two large of your money, a lot of things are cheap. But your pocket's empty now, so things that look cheap to him might not look that way to you. At least the machine itself is also cheap, though. Won't last long at $2k, Butterfly or no Butterfly.

But seriously, are any of the old-timers still around who really know how to fix the Butterfly? Because if anything's becoming a lost art in this digital age, fixing the Butterfly would have to be pretty close to the top of the list.


[Apart from "Victrola" and a $2000 price, the entire text of the ad is: Great condition! Butterfly needs fixed. It is real cheap to get it fixed.]

The stamp on the back of the label is probably an authorization to resell the machine used, I'm thinking.

Pics from the ad, you can see exactly what the seller's talking about -- it's a shame about the Butterfly, because the machine looks to be in pretty good shape otherwise. Seems refinished though:*

*If I had to guess, he probably means the governor. I guess.

This is likely what that stamp is about...
https://books.google.com/books?id=JCEdA ... &q&f=false

As for the Butterfly, maybe a hinge is broken?

James

If anyone on the forum buys this machine, I have a spare butterfly.

Good catch, James -- thanks for the link that explains the stamp. A really interesting bit of Victor's hyperactive litigious history!

With all due respect, Vince, there is no such thing as a "spare" butterfly. Not these days.

I would say that butterfly in this case means the governor. It is a term sometimes used in describing the flat spinning governors in music boxes and clocks.

mcgravy wrote:I would say that butterfly in this case means the governor. It is a term sometimes used in describing the flat spinning governors in music boxes and clocks.

Quite so.

mcgravy wrote:I would say that butterfly in this case means the governor. It is a term sometimes used in describing the flat spinning governors in music boxes and clocks.

We have a history of flat spinning governors in Pennsylvania, but they aren't in music boxes and clocks.

Years ago I saw a hand-written advert on a small card, posted on a kiosk in the red light district of London, which read "Exotic butterfly, needs mounting" with a phone number.

This may be an option.