The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I saw this custom-finish painted and polychromed Victrola XVII the other day at a shop in Jensen Beach, Florida. Allegedly, it came out of the Waldorf-Astoria in NYC. It is in working condition, but has never had any restoration or service done to it. It has some wear to the finish on the high spots (typical of what is shown in the last photo) and a few other condition issues as well, the worst being that the left front 'wing' on the corner has been broken off and reattached rather badly. The painting on the front horn doors are nice and in good shape. There is a Victor 1000 needle tin in the record cabinet with enough wear to the litho for me to call it 'fair' condition. They are asking $500. If anyone is interested, give me a holler and I'll fill you in a little more. It's also listed on Treasure Coast (Florida) Craigslist. I had to fight the urge to grab a can of GoJo and just go for it! Lol!

I wish it was near me. I would be interested. Jan.

I think it would need a trained furniture conservator

$500 for any XVII ain't bad.

I'm interested and promise to give it a good home! Jerry B.

I realize that this is an aftermarket finish, and I don't think it's very good looking, though it is well done, but usually when the finish was not by Victor, the decal shows the mahogany background through the middle. This decal looks like it's sitting on top of the finish. How was that done?

It probably was done by Victor, or by an authorized shop- just not in their usual style. There's a good chance that a set of furniture, or a room, matched this.

bbphonoguy wrote:I realize that this is an aftermarket finish, and I don't think it's very good looking, though it is well done, but usually when the finish was not by Victor, the decal shows the mahogany background through the middle. This decal looks like it's sitting on top of the finish. How was that done?

It looks like they painted around the decal details carefully. There are some minor smudges.

antique1973 wrote:

bbphonoguy wrote:I realize that this is an aftermarket finish, and I don't think it's very good looking, though it is well done, but usually when the finish was not by Victor, the decal shows the mahogany background through the middle. This decal looks like it's sitting on top of the finish. How was that done?

It looks like they painted around the decal details carefully. There are some minor smudges.

Oh. I thought it was just the decal chipping off. That must have been an insane amount of work!

Actually, that would be insane. If this was done for a prominent place like the Waldorf-Astoria I think it would be possible that Victor supplied a decal to an outside shop- if the work was up to quality. The advertising value would be important.