The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

There is a Victrola 1-90 available for sale at a *cough* well-known auction website *cough* listing this unusual specimen. I thought that the 1-90 was only made by the US Victor Talking Machine? This one shows it as being made through Victor Talking Machine Company of Japan, Ltd. Is anyone familiar with why this would be have been made by JVC? Since US Victor held the Orthophonic patents, I doubt if this one has a re-entrant folded horn like the US models do. I have seen a few similar 1920s tabletop models made by JVC, but never before an identical model to the ones made in the US at that time.

I know that the VV-1-90 was sold in Japan under the JVC brand name, but whether it was manufactured in the US and exported to Japan as a completed Victrola, or if the parts/components were manufactured in the US and sent to Japan for assembly, or whether they were completely manufactured and assembled in Japan, I don't know.

Here's a post that lists most--if not all--of the known Japanese Victrola models -- viewtopic.php?f=2&t=44553 -- It includes the 1-90.

OrthoFan

According to Victor documentation in 1927, there were a significant number of 1-90’s on the production schedule to be manufactured in Camden and destined for the export market. It does not identify the specific market however. What do you see as odd about the 1-90 in your photos?

Mark, thanks so much for that documentation. My 1-90 was also intended for export (as evidenced by large white block letters which read "EXPORT" on the underside of my 1-90's motor board.) However, as the attached photos illustrate, mine has no mention of being built by JVC, and it is a true Orthophonic machine with the folded re-entrant horn.

What I find weird about the photos of the Japanese 1-90 is that they used the same cabinet dimensions/design/wood finish/ID tag as the American 1-90, but the speed regulator, thick reproducer flange, and triangular crank escutcheon all look like the same hardware used on JVC models from the same era. Unfortunately, the seller of the Japanese 1-90 admits to having no working knowledge of antique phonographs, so asking him/her to take a picture of the horn would probably not go over very well