Featured Phonograph: Victor III

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MODEL:  Victor III
SERIAL #:13406A   
YEARS MADE: 1909-1913
COST:   $40.00
CASE/CABINET SIZE:  14 1/8" x 14 1/8" x 7 5/16"
TURNTABLE:   10"
SOUND BOX:   Exhibition
MOTOR:   2 mainspring
HORN DIMENSIONS:   No. 31 22" diameter
REPRODUCTION PARTS:   None
CURRENT VALUE:   ?
INTERESTING FACTS :  

 

It seems to me that a “Featured Phonograph” may be a rarity (such as Rene’s beautiful one-of-a-kind Tinfoil machine), a classic which made a significant impact on the early industry, a machine which has descended to its current owner through the family, a common machine with an unusual feature, or any other combination of attributes which might make an instrument appealing. I’ll share one now simply because of the unlikely path it took to my collection.

 

It was the fall of 1970, I was 16 years old, and the Kiwanis Club in my hometown was holding its semi-annual Antique Show in the Armory. I’d been going to these shows for 2 or 3 years; sometimes with my mom, other times with a pal who liked old clocks. This time I was alone, driving with my newly-earned license. The ceiling of the Armory vaulted 30 or 40 feet overhead, allowing gentle sunlight to pass through large glass block windows, and dissipating the crowd noise overhead. I always enjoyed the ambiance of the Armory, and the ~100 dealer booths always held a surprise or two. That morning, I rounded a corner and there it was: the most beautiful talking machine I’d ever seen.

 

Over the past 56 years I remember it as the first wooden phonograph horn I ever encountered. I’m not sure I even knew such horns existed at that point (I’d been collecting for only 3 years). In any event, I was gobsmacked. The dissipated sunlight bathed the machine (an oak Victor) in a golden glow, and my heart was beating a turkey-trot. I had no idea what I was looking at; all I knew in that moment was that I must have this precious artifact. The price tag read $225.00. For a kid who was mowing lawns on weekends and bagging groceries 2 nights a week, it was a fortune. The dealer asked me if I had any questions. I asked if he would accept a combination of cash and trades. At that time I had $50.00-$75.00, an Edison Standard Model B with a flower horn, a small Aeolian-Vocalion, and a Victrola XI I would be willing to trade… My recollection suggests that the dealer was kind, but he wasn’t interested in trading. I did a quick circuit of the show, but I was preoccupied with the vision I had just witnessed. I left the show, jumped in the car, and drove home with the intent to ask my long-suffering father for a loan. Once home, mom reminded me that dad had gone out of town for the day. Mom did nothing with household finances, so I was out of luck. With a heavy heart I returned to the show for no other reason than to gape at the impossible dream. That too would be denied me – the beautiful oak Victor was gone. Two salient points remained with me: the fluted oak corner columns and the spear points on the horn.

 

As the years passed, I learned more, and eventually realized that the machine had been either a Victor II or III, but the spear point horn (a No.31 oak horn) strongly suggested a Victor III. I began attending shows at Union, Illinois and various New Jersey venues in 1980. I saw dozens and dozens of Victor IIIs and No.31 horns over the decades, and occasionally wondered, “Was that you?”

 

Thirty one years after that heartbreaking morning at the Kiwanis Antique Show, I was at work when a colleague (Rich) stopped me. “Hey – I heard that you collect those old phonographs?” I replied that I did. Rich asked, “What would one of those old Victors with a wooden horn be worth?” I smiled and said that it would depend upon the model and of course condition. Rich responded, “Oh, it’s it great condition – I’ve owned it for 30 years.” Suddenly, the dots seemed to be connecting… I asked Rich where he had bought his Victor. “The Kiwanis Antique Show.”

 

A day or two later I drove to Rich’s home and saw the same Victor III that had so entranced me as a teenager. Admittedly, I wasn’t bowled over as I was at age 16. But this time I was able to bring it home.

 

 

In June 1972, Rich (at left below) had to evacuate his home following the arrival of hurricane Agnes.  Below, you can see the wooden horn wrapped in a garbage bag as it's being floated out of harm's way.

[Tinfoilphono]

Wow. That's a really great story, George! It's incredible that you had a second chance to get the very same machine you had lusted after in your earliest collecting career. I truly feel your pain at having missed it the first time. Been there, done that.

 

My Victor III story is infinitely more mundane. In the summer of 1962 my mother drove me (I was 13) to visit a collector/dealer in Greenfield, MA. He had a mind-boggling collection, with machines stuffed everywhere. I don't remember the details, but somehow I left with a very nice Victor III that cost me all of $8. It had a typical black Victor horn. It was a very welcome addition to my then-small collection.

 

In December of 1962 my father came across a blue morning glory Victor accessory horn in a local antique shop for $1. My parents gave it to me for Christmas, and I immediately put it on the Victor III. I absolutely loved that upgrade. I still have it today, and I take pleasure in the fact that it has become the APS 'mascot,' used on the website and in all sorts of mailings. It really is pretty, and it attracts far more attention among non-collectors than any other machine I have ever owned. Sometimes beauty trumps rarity.

 

 

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Rene, your acquisition story may be more mundane, but the prices (even for 1962) and appearance of that horn are eye-opening.  The decoration of your beautiful horn looks like Tea Tray Company work.