Anyone familiar with a Sarola?

[Funckle]

I was recently gifted a Sarola phonograph, but can't fi d much on it, and I'd li,like, to get it up and running.  Any suggestions?

 

Thank you

[BenL]

Sarola was a regional brand made for the St. Louis trade, sold through local department/furniture stores to give the impression they were offering a local brand. In reality it’s a supplier phonograph. This model was made in mass unbranded. Allowing any business to slap on their own tag/decal to give the appearance they were offering their own house brand. This same model appears under almost a dozen different brands. Meteor, Liberty Bell, Mastertone, Jewel, Perfectone, etc. It dates around the late teens/early twenties.

 

Edited October 6, 2023 by BenL

[Funckle]

Thanks BenL.  Very interesting to know more.  Do you know if they are difficult to repair or get parts for?

[Henry]

Wonder what the date of that ad is? According to the patent label affixed to the back panel of my VV-XIG, it listed for $100 in 1917, the year of its manufacture. Hard to believe that an "off-brand" like the Sarola could command such a premium price.

[BenL]

On 10/6/2023 at 9:36 PM, Funckle said:

Thanks BenL.  Very interesting to know more.  Do you know if they are difficult to repair or get parts for?

The benefit of it being a supplier phonograph is that the parts were in made in mass. You can find a hundred other brands that used the same parts like the motor, tonearm, etc. (You just have to know what you're looking for.)

 

It looks like it's using Heineman No. 11 tonearm and a No. 2 sound box/reproducer. Heineman was a company that made parts in mass for any business assembling their own phonograph.  Many smaller independent brands went to local/regional furniture makers for the cabinets, with the mechanical parts contracted through Heineman. Slap on your own tag/decal, and voila, you have your own house brand. 

Heineman parts are fairly easy to work on, with the exception they use pot-metal, which becomes brittle overtime. 

 

Edited October 8, 2023 by BenL

[CurtA]

On 10/6/2023 at 10:36 PM, Funckle said:

Thanks BenL.  Very interesting to know more.  Do you know if they are difficult to repair or get parts for?

Repairs are similar to any other phonograph.  As for parts, it depends on what you need.  Exact replacements might be difficult to find, but since it used generic parts when new, you could improvise a tonearm/reproducer.  Motor parts would need to be matched,

[BenL]

4 hours ago, Henry said:

Wonder what the date of that ad is? According to the patent label affixed to the back panel of my VV-XIG, it listed for $100 in 1917, the year of its manufacture. Hard to believe that an "off-brand" like the Sarola could command such a premium price.

My bad, I thought I saved the photo with the source. It's from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, dated November 7th, 1920.

This style of off-brand was pushed as a higher end model because of the elaborate wood pressed grill. Sears used wood pressed grills on a couple of their Silvertone models, along with a few other off-brands, like Grand Opera.  It's debatable if they were really seen as a "fancy" or "cheap".  As they were mainly used by off-brands as an attempt to stand out, I'd argue they were seen as a little nouveau riche. 

Edited October 8, 2023 by BenL