Victor Talking Machine Company Victrola
In 1901 the Victor Talking Machine Company was founded in Camden, NJ as an American recording company and manufacturer of phonographs. Their notable trademark, “His Master’s Voice” which depicts the beloved Jack Russell Terrier, Nipper, seated next to a phonograph, is recognized by many. The world’s largest Nipper statue stands atop of a storage building in the Warehouse District in Albany, NY.
Originally 1 of 4 throughout the country, the Nipper statue in Albany, NY is the largest and last to still sit upon the RTA building it was placed on in 1958.
The company initially sold external horn phonographs, however in 1906 their first internal horn dubbed “The Victor-Victrola” launched the company into popularity, especially among wealthy customers. It wasn’t until 1910 when the Victor Talking Machine Company offered an affordable phonograph, now called simply “Victrola” to the public. Victrola the Tenth or, VV-X, went through several designs before its final model which ended up in our collection. The first design was a table-top model sold for $75 (a whopping $2,352.73 in today's money!), in 1912 it was converted to a full sized floor model however the design was unpopular and impractical, in autumn of 1913 the third and final design change for the VV-X was completed. This enclosed floor cabinet design was affordable, practical, and incredibly popular.
The Hart Cluett Museum owns the enclosed floor cabinet design and its serial number, 104782J, allows us to pinpoint the manufacture date to 1915. The J suffix indicates that small upgrades had been made to the motor and mechanical components since its initial release in 1913. Like the majority of Victrolas, ours is made of mahogany with a red finish and has a crescent bezel speed control. Production of the VV-X was stopped in 1921.
Two children’s records were found within the Victrola. The first was from the Talking Book Corporation, an early 1900’s company known for their single sided records affixed to an elaborate die-cut cardboard illustrations. Titled “I Am Your Uncle Sam”, this 1918 record is attached to a dignified Uncle Sam marching along to the bass drum he is striking. This was one of the first records produced by the company. The second record found within the Victrola was Nancy Martin’s “The Big Lion/ The Funny Monkey” produced by Capitol Records in their Tiny-Tunes series. This record was released in 1948 when Capitol Records decided to leap into the children’s disc market. They produced marketed these records for their Superflex design which made them “virtually unbreakable”.
Blog researched and written by Elliot Gnirrep.