Manufacturer
RCA VICTOR
Victrola Tabletop Phonograph
Datec. 1910
DimensionsOverall: 49.5 x 38 x 37 cm
Credit LineGift from the Seaborn Family, 1972
Object number1972.033.002
Label TextThis is a hand-cranked Victor Talking Machine Company Victrola gramophone from around 1910. Its sound projecting horn is built into the small cabinet. This was an improvement for many who had found the exterior horn bulky and unsightly. As a table-top model, it was also a better fit for smaller homes and budgets.
In the early 1920s, radio stations, including London's CJGC-AM, broadcast more recorded than live music, using gramophones like this. Records, such as Fritz Kreisler’s “The Old Refrain,” were inexpensive and transmitted well. Walter Blackburn recalled helping at the station: “My job was to wind the old spring wound gramophone and to put the records on. My father [ran] the transmitter and… announced the program.”
NamePhonograph
