A once in a lifetime find: a rare Victor Electrola....

[Kamakiri]

Snowed like hell today in Buffalo, so figured I'd venture out to a couple estate sales.

The second and last estate sale I went to today (it was just too snowy and the roads were REALLY bad) was at a house in the very rich, very old section of the city, I later found out that the woman in the house lived to be just over 100 when she recently passed.

Today's find at that sale was this Victor Electrola model VE10-69E. This one was made in 1928, and cost $850, which translates into $11,400 in today's dollars. Something that you didn't spend on a record player unless you were a captain of industry! Only 1,900 of this model were ever made. I can't find anything on the 'net about them, other than a page on the victor-victrola site that has this set at 3 stars out of 4 for rarity.

According to that site, this machine is worth between $500 and $3,000+.

It's missing the tonearm, platter, and motor but is otherwise complete and original....speaker and amplifier haven't been touched since new. It was sitting across from a beautiful Steinway upright piano that wasn't for sale.

Does ANYone know anything about the Electrolas, or know anyone who has this or a very similar model, by chance? At this stage in the game, I'm not sure what to do with it, but after 4 hours of cleaning it, it has me absolutely captivated......the last picture shows it presently after careful cleaning.