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FREE TO A GOOD HOME
I live in a North Chicago suburb and rescued a Victrola Granada from an alley, set out with the trash behind an empty house being cleared out. A rain storm was coming and I couldn't let the water ruin it, so I loaded it up and put it in my garage. It's the Victrola version of finding a puppy on the street.
It appears to be good shape, but I am not a collector. The data plate is on it, and from what I've found online it was made in 1926. The cabinet has some scratches on the top, and the wood for the bun part of the feet has been taken off, but were stored in a bag in the cabinet. The tone arm is not dented and moves freely. The felt on the turn table is in good shape. There are spare needles in what I think is an original tin with an access hole in the lid. The crank is there, the plastic or Bakelite handle is in good shape, one screw is missing from the escutcheon where the crank goes into the cabinet. I did not try the crank - again, I am not a collector and didn't want to damage a machine when I didn't know how it worked. The built-in sound horn does not have a cloth covering, but I did not see signs that it ever did.
I would like to give this machine away to someone who knows what it is and can either restore it or use it for parts to keep another machine going. I joined this forum in order to connect with an interested collector in the Chicago area. I will not ship the machine - you will have to arrange to meet me at my house, where I'll be glad to help load it into your car.
All I knew about it when I saw it was it should not be left in the alley with a rain storm on the horizon.
I'm new to the forum, but I will be checking for PMs or responses to this post.
Thanks, Scott

Very remarkable... Hope you'll find soon someone's to take care of it.

Forum members-

Thanks to Scott, this Granada has been salvaged. I made the four hour round trip through Chicago to the northern suburbs from my home in Indiana and picked it up today. I contacted him early after his post around Christmas and it has taken me this long to make connections with him-mostly due to my reluctance to fight any type of inclement weather while traveling through the Windy City. At this point in my life I'm past that. Thankfully Scott was patient.

As Scott mentioned in his initial post, he is not a collector. He is interested in all types of history though, and his true interests lie in early American history, specifically the early fur traders. He even used to give talks on that subject in the western states of (I believe) Wyoming and Colorado. (I hope I have all of that right Scott!). He is interested enough in all history enough to have pulled the machine out of the rain, join the Forum, and post an ad that the machine was free to anyone who would be willing to salvage it.

Scott is one of the nicest guys you would want to meet. He asked a lot of questions while I was getting the machine ready to load in my car-so many in fact that I asked if he would be interested in going to the June show and sale coming up. He declined, however, saying he already had too many other interests.

The Granada is rough. I'm not sure the cabinet can be salvaged but it will be seriously looked at. The motor was not cranked a lot today as it has been in cold storage for a long time, but the initial impression is that it will work. The pot metal reproducer is in pretty good shape considering this machine was obviously in storage for many years. Bottom line is the machine it in the hands of a collector and not in the landfill. I thanked Scott profusely on behalf of myself and all phonograph collectors.

Chris

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Thank you for the efforts to save this Orthophonic Victrola.