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VoV: A Sign that Talks! 30 Foot Tall Credenza
Posted: Sun May 07, 2023 7:15 pm
by MarkELynch
From the pages of the Voice of the Victor and featured is a Fox Movietone News story!
The two VoV articles and the film appeared in 1927.
https://digital.tcl.sc.edu/digital/coll ... N/id/6209/
Mark
Re: VoV: A Sign that Talks! 30 Foot Tall Credenza
Posted: Sun May 07, 2023 7:29 pm
by zipcord
it's good to know that accordions were just as annoying 100 years ago
Re: VoV: A Sign that Talks! 30 Foot Tall Credenza
Posted: Sun May 07, 2023 7:30 pm
by OrthoFan
Many thanks for posting this! I especially liked the video showing the "Victrola" in action!
There was quite a discussion about this on this forum--13 years ago--as to the authenticity of the Victrola --
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3642 The video evidence should convince any lingering doubters.
OrthoFan
Re: VoV: A Sign that Talks! 30 Foot Tall Credenza
Posted: Sun May 07, 2023 8:22 pm
by MarkELynch
Ortho,
Thanks for your comments and the reminder about the previous discussion. Tom Rhodes used my photo in his MAPS article about the Auditorium Orthophonic. That is me thirty years ago when I first discovered what appears to be the last remaining example. The dimensions correspond to the information that Bob Baumbach included in the Victor Data Book. It is quite a remarkable piece of woodwork, it is finished on all sides. The production model was painted black according to the Victor meeting notes at Hagley. My guess is that this was one of the horns used for the traveling exhibits before ending up in this installation. The horn was covered with a silk tapestry according to the article that describes this installation so there was really no need for the fine finishing.
Four 6-inch cone electrodynamic speakers would have been mounted in a vertical row in the center of the horn and then covered with the curved panel. Other versions were planned with up to eight 8-inch speakers. The “Plurality of electrical units” stated in the Sign the Talks article are these cone speakers. Dr Haigis was Victor’s chief physicist.
It has been made to work (not exactly restored) with two modern 12” coaxial speakers since the original parts had unfortunately been removed years ago, it sounds amazing. See Bob’s article in the APS magazine. And read all about the Auditorium Orthophonic in the Victor meeting notes on line at the Hagley Museum.
https://digital.hagley.org/2658
Mark
Re: VoV: A Sign that Talks! 30 Foot Tall Credenza
Posted: Sun May 07, 2023 10:25 pm
by Watanabehi
MarkELynch wrote: Sun May 07, 2023 7:15 pm
From the pages of the Voice of the Victor and featured is a Fox Movietone News story!
The two VoV articles and the film appeared in 1927.
https://digital.tcl.sc.edu/digital/coll ... N/id/6209/
Mark
234ACB9B-8F9D-45FC-BC6D-A106BBB10A9A.jpeg
C04B33DB-41BE-4A59-AEF9-44ADE07071DA.jpeg
18B30122-6D45-48F3-8C0A-7047D9F5B824.jpeg
This is just amazing!! I am a big fan of Credenza. This is just an amazing historical Victrola's commercial.
Re: VoV: A Sign that Talks! 30 Foot Tall Credenza
Posted: Mon May 08, 2023 1:02 pm
by Silvertone
Here is the lost photo from my 2010 post.
Re: VoV: A Sign that Talks! 30 Foot Tall Credenza
Posted: Mon May 08, 2023 3:51 pm
by Garret
Mark,
Thanks much for sharing these photos.
Sincerely,
Garret
Re: VoV: A Sign that Talks! 30 Foot Tall Credenza
Posted: Mon May 08, 2023 5:20 pm
by Phono-Phan
Very interesting post. That had to be amazing to hear back then. Thanks for posting.
Re: VoV: A Sign that Talks! 30 Foot Tall Credenza
Posted: Mon May 08, 2023 7:05 pm
by mrrgstuff
Interesting to see this as only the other day I saw this video on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/I8NQCuHa8fA
Re: VoV: A Sign that Talks! 30 Foot Tall Credenza
Posted: Mon May 08, 2023 7:47 pm
by OrthoFan
...and when they asked the young lady how she liked standing in the giant Victrola while it was playing she said, "What?" ...and when they repeated the question she said, "What?" ....and when they asked her if she was okay, she said, "What?" ....and when then asked her if she could hear anything at all she said "WHAT?"......
