The Victor-Victrola Page

Section Five: Miscellaneous Information

The Victor Talking Machine Company was founded in 1901. It was sold to RCA in 1929, right before The Depression hit.
The Victor Dog's Name is Nipper. He is a mixed breed Terrier. One story states that he was originally painted sitting on his master's coffin, listening to his voice played back on a phonograph. That is an "urban legend". It was simply a creative idea.
Victor was the world's largest producer of musical instruments for many years, and employed over 8,000 people during its heyday. Victor's main plant was in Camden, New Jersey, but they also had plants in California, Virginia, Canada and Japan.
The year of highest Victrola production was 1917. The total volume that year was just over 566,000 units.
You should only use a steel needle once (for one play) and then toss it out. 78RPM records contain an abrasive which, by design, wears down the needle. The needle gets the wear...not the record. Once a needle is dull, it will quickly damage your records, so use a steel needle only ONCE!
There were all kinds of special needles produced for Victrolas made of cactus, fiber, tungsten, etc. These are no longer produced. Steel needles are still readily available from a number of sources.
Approximately 800,000 external horn Victors, and over 7 million Victrolas (internal horn) came off the assembly lines by the time RCA bought the company.
Some external horn Victor tabletop phonographs used solid wood cabinets. All Victrolas use a composite wood core and thin veneer for the cabinets.
Current estimates are that the survival rate for external horn phonograph models is about 7%. Internal horn Victrolas have an estimated survival rate of about 8.5%. That means that there are about 600,000 Victrolas still in existence.
The vast majority of Victrolas were sold in the months of November and December. They were great Christmas presents and the factory worked frantic overtime during those months.
Victors were sent from the factory to wholesale distributors, and from there to dealers. Consequently, there was a lot of mark-up in the retail pricing.
Deluxe (fancy) Victrolas were commonly gutted and used as bookcases or bars in the 1930's and 40's. The spring motors were used as trolling motors for fishermen. One company in New York would buy them for 50 cents and grind them up for use as recycled fiberboard during World War II (see picture at left).
When introduced in 1911, the price-leader Victrola VV-IV made the phonograph affordable to many Americans. However, it's $15.00 price tag would equate to $275.00 in today's economy. Just about the same as a deluxe IPOD.
Many Victrola aftermarket services existed in the late 'teens and early 20's. These companies would decorate, paint or modify a Victrola to suit anyone's taste. There also were scores of companies who made a variety of custom cabinets for Victrolas.
One of the more expensive Victrolas listed in the catalogs was the $900 Japanese Queen Anne Period model of 1919. $900 at that time equates to approximately $13,750 in today's money. More expensive custom designs were available from the Victor Art Department.
Victrola dealers often attached a dealer tag or decal, indicating where it was purchased. Large dealer networks included the Wurlitzer Company, Grinnell Brothers, Lyon and Healy, John Wannamaker, and many others.
This website receives more than 80 emails and approximately 60 database submissions per day regarding surviving Victor products. The database information is used to track survival rates, details on model features, etc. This site is the result of approximately 20 years of research and countless discussions with fellow collectors and experts. Traffic averages 1,100 hits per day.
Two previously unknown models have been uncovered though database submissions, and over 20 extremely rare Victrolas have been discovered via contacts through this website.