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I know I have been posting alot about Identifying phonographs, but there have been a lot of interesting machines pop up around me lately. I'm not planning on buying it, but I am curious if there is any info on it. I think the mechanism that goes into the inside of the bedplate is an autostop, which hits the lever inside to stop the governer. Any info?

Martin

It's a Columbia BVT. It's one of the more difficult to locate Columbia cylinder machines with the tone arm and back bracket. You should be able to get a good price as it appears to be missing the tone arm. Go for it if you're able.

Jerry B.

That's a BVT Graphophone, also sold by Sears as an Oxford (with a modified back bracket).

George P.

You beat me to it, Jerry!

I did think it was a Columbia because of the holes at the end of the mandrel, and I have never seen one with the auto-stop. Thanks!

Martin

Christmas is coming! You could ask for a copy of Howard Hazelcorn's Columbia Phonograph Companion, and you'd learn about the company's entire cylinder machine line. Copies are all over eBay...

George P.

George, you are tooooooo modest. The Hazelcorn books on Columbia machines (one disc and one cylinder) are terrific and well worth purchasing. But your books co-authored by Tim F. are nothing less than terrific. Jerry Blais

Here's an image of a very nice BVT currently being sold on that popular "auction" site.

Best regards,
Fran

Not to hijack this thread, but I must ask this
question:

Why do most of the ebay sellers *always*
have the machine's lid propped up at an angle,
resting on the edge of the machine?

I find that disgusting enough that I'd never bid
on, nor ever even consider purchasing any machine
pictured that way. It darn near makes me gag every
time I see it.

Chuck

It's odd, isn't it? There's no good reason to prop a lid against the machine's cabinet, but yet we see it all the time.

It's also curious how things like this can get under our skin. For me, it's curtain tassels hanging down the fronts of machines from keys or even knobs. It looks crazy to me. Still, there's no harm done, and I wouldn't hesitate to buy a machine just because it was festooned with tassels. To each his own.

...And in the spirit of the season, here's an early present: George P.

phonogfp wrote: It's also curious how things like this can get under our skin. For me, it's curtain tassels hanging down the fronts of machines from keys or even knobs. It looks crazy to me. Still, there's no harm done, and I wouldn't hesitate to buy a machine just because it was festooned with tassels. To each his own.

George P.

I don't like the look of tassels either, but they do have a function in that they make it much harder to lose a phonograph key!