Strange Victor, Berliner, RCA Photo
Posted: Tue Jun 20, 2017 7:53 pm
I came across this advertisement. It is an RCA ad from 1953. The machine is supposed to be a Victor Trade Mark Machine from 1901, but the traveling arm seems to be from a later Canadian Berliner, (vertical arm and tapered on the sound box end). It also has what looks to be a 1901 Turret type Berliner Sound Box and it has the same bullet brake as my very late basket case. Any way, the machine was only about 50 years old and not very valuable at the time with an odd combination of parts that do not seem to match known machines or be Victor at all. Any thoughts?
I wonder if toward the end of production of the Canadian Berliner Type A, if Berliner threw whatever they had left over in storage onto the most outdated machine in their line-up. The 1901 sound box along with that traveling arm and brake on that machine would not make sense otherwise, (could be a marriage, but that would seem odd in 1953).
We cannot be completely sure what went on back then, despite our best attempts to formulate a record of a lost history. I don't think that many in 1920 would choose an old Berliner over their new Victrola. There seems to be a phase in the life of an object when something is just old, (no longer practical, but not vet valued).
I would have thought RCA could have found or had a real Victor. I doubt that any one noticed or cared at the time. They probably just grabbed the first one they saw. Just an old relic with advertising potential at the time.
I forgot to add that the machines front corner shows the joinery of a Canadian Berliner, (look for the rectangle about a quarter of the way down and at the back corner too).
I wonder if toward the end of production of the Canadian Berliner Type A, if Berliner threw whatever they had left over in storage onto the most outdated machine in their line-up. The 1901 sound box along with that traveling arm and brake on that machine would not make sense otherwise, (could be a marriage, but that would seem odd in 1953).
We cannot be completely sure what went on back then, despite our best attempts to formulate a record of a lost history. I don't think that many in 1920 would choose an old Berliner over their new Victrola. There seems to be a phase in the life of an object when something is just old, (no longer practical, but not vet valued).
I would have thought RCA could have found or had a real Victor. I doubt that any one noticed or cared at the time. They probably just grabbed the first one they saw. Just an old relic with advertising potential at the time.
I forgot to add that the machines front corner shows the joinery of a Canadian Berliner, (look for the rectangle about a quarter of the way down and at the back corner too).