The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I was the lucky first responder to a Facebook ad for a rough, but complete Victor M. It had not been touched since 1957. The brake is frozen for now, but I pulled the turntable off and the motor started running and was surprisingly quiet. I will post some after pictures, but it will be a while.

Goodness, that one's awfully dusty.

Where was it sitting since 1957? I wonder how it got put up there for so long without anyone even looking...who has a room in their house they lock for over 60 years?

I love finds like this and it's great that you laid claim to it. Thanks for saving another one!

How wonderful! I had a similar experience back in the ‘90s when I was living in L.A.
I didn’t know anything about horn machines then and I found a dusty front-mount machine at a local pawn shop for $100. It was just as dirty and dusty as this one and the motor still worked well. I just cleaned the machine up and had the reproducer rebuilt. Turned out to be a Sousa model Talk-o-phone. Kept it a few years and sold it for much more than I paid.
Congrats on your find!

Steven

Congratulations on an exciting find! My Victor M was a similar fun project. It was like the Tin Man in Tue Wizzard of OZ, The u-tube, with Exhibition, was in mid rotation towards the turntable. We'll always wonder how many years passed between plays. Enjoy!

Jerry B.

Nice!!! I look forward to seeing your pictures of the restoration.

I fid it very appealing that there are still unwashed and unloved treasures to be found in the wild. Congratulations!

I would've snapped it up for sure!edisonplayer.

audiophile102 wrote:I fid it very appealing that there are still unwashed and unloved treasures to be found in the wild. Congratulations!

The machine belongs to the seller’s uncle. The man died in 1957 and the machine had not been touched since. The man’s sister kept it as a remembrance of her brother.

VanEpsFan1914 wrote:Goodness, that one's awfully dusty.

Where was it sitting since 1957? I wonder how it got put up there for so long without anyone even looking...who has a room in their house they lock for over 60 years?

I love finds like this and it's great that you laid claim to it. Thanks for saving another one!

In this context, the dust is beautiful !!

Just a quick update. I don’t intend to do a complete restoration, (only original once and all that). The cabinet will get some more cleaning, smoothing and polishing and the motor will get serviced, but nothing will get re-plated and I don’t think that I will redo to back bracket, The pin striping is still there, but faded. The Nickel plating on the reproducer was corroded, so the plated, front shell was replaced while salvaging the back and stylus from the original. It still has a long way to go, but once I started polishing the corrosion and cleaning the cabinet to see what I had, I couldn’t seem to stay away from it. I have always preferred to do more of a rejuvenation than a restoration. Maybe the next owner, (after my lifetime), will want it to look factory fresh, but I like survivors. I borrowed the horn from my Humpback for the pictures. The original horn has good bones, but needs some love.