Bidspirit auction | Victor VI Wood Horn Disc

Victor VI Wood Horn Disc Phonograph - Introduced in 1904, the Victor VI was the absolute top-of-the-line outside-horn machine offered by Victor. It cost an astonishing $105 at launch, which roughly equated to 3 months wages for an average working individual at the time. This all original machine has a beautiful Honduran mahogany cabinet featuring fluted corner pillars, gold-plated capitals, and a gold-plated tone arm, crank, brake, and speed control, and is paired with an original finish highly polished mahogany ”spear tip” wood horn with no cracks, splits, or repairs, and nice original HMV decal. The black japanned back bracket has beautiful original gold striping. The triple-spring motor, winds and runs smoothly. Turntable has original felt. The Victor tag on the front of the machine is serial No. 7007. Total production of the Victor VI from 1904 to 1917 was about 17,500 machines. A low four-digit serial number like 7007 places this phonograph firmly within the first few years of the model's rollout, right around the 1906–1908 window. Below the Victor plate is a celluloid tag for Stanley & Pearsall 541 5th Ave. N.Y. Stanley & Pearsall was a prominent, Victor Talking Machine dealership that operated at 541 Fifth Avenue, New York City during the early 20th century. The business opened around 1906 in what was then the ultra-fashionable shopping district of Fifth Avenue. The firm was headed by George A. Stanley, an industry veteran who spent 16 years in the field and previously managed the talking machine department for the Jacot Music Box Co. All in all we don’t think you will find a nicer all original Victor VI. Machine measures 16” wide, 16” deep, 10” tall. Horn measures 22” diameter, 26” long. From the William Kocher collection.