A What’s That Winner!
contests, What's That? August 22nd, 2010We have a winner for the What’s That Wednesday contest. The object in question is a brake for the turntable on a 103-year-old Victrola gramophone.
After some serious consideration, I decided to award two people because they each guessed so close to perfect, just a little bit off on the function of the piece.
Mo, via Babs Beetle, nailed the gramophone part and so that gets her the win. However, she said the metal piece is “the switch that makes it spin.” Although the piece does affect spin, it’s not what makes it spin. The hand crank on the side of the unit does that.
Jen of Redhead Ranting further guessed that “it’s the speed control on a gramophone.” There is a “speed regulator” dial on the device, but the brake obviously controls speed (to stop spinning while changing records), so I’m giving second prize to Jen.
Congratulations, ladies! I’ll be in touch with you both soon.
Here are more pictures of the Victrola. It belongs to my brother-in-law’s family and it was such a treat to hear old records being played on it. We all find it incredible that it’s in such good condition for its age. You can see how well it’s been loved!
Manufacturer’s stamp (inside the lid):
Again, here is the What’s That object (the turntable brake):
Here is the arm that holds the record needle:
Receptacles for needles:
The speed regulator dial:
Here is the piece in its entirety. Records stand on edge at the left. There are angled slats inside the right half of the unit. The doors in front of them act as crude but effective volume control. The hand crank is barely visible, also on the right:
Here’s a one-minute video so you can hear it in action!
August 22nd, 2010 at 3:35 pm
Oh my word! It’s beautiful! Mo is very excited to be a winner. I must admit I thought she was quite clever to guess it was a gramophone. She’s better at this than me 🙂
Yes! We have no bananas. We have no bananas today!
Babs – beetle´s last blog post ..Starry- Starry Night Hah!
August 22nd, 2010 at 3:41 pm
I should have been able to guess this one. I have an old record player too! Mine, however, doesn’t seem to work. The last time I tried it, the power came on but nothing worked.
Karen, author of “My Funny Dad, Harry”´s last blog post ..Who Are Cat People
August 22nd, 2010 at 3:50 pm
ConCatulations to both winners! We never would have guessed that…and we didn’t!
Sniffie and the Florida Furkids
Sniffie and the Florida Furkids´s last blog post ..Easy Like Sunday
August 22nd, 2010 at 4:42 pm
congrats to the brilliant winners. Not only was I way off but now I’ve got “yes, we have no banana’s” stuck in my head
ann´s last blog post ..Presque Isle Day 4
August 22nd, 2010 at 4:50 pm
Ooooh, I would never have guess that, either. But I did dance around a little bit to the music at the end.
Daisy the Curly Cat´s last blog post ..All Hat- No Cattle
August 22nd, 2010 at 5:12 pm
Congrats to the winners!!
Beautiful piece.
Cats~Goats~Quotes´s last blog post ..We will miss them so
August 22nd, 2010 at 7:23 pm
Funny, I was just berating a neighbor for refusing to retire his reel-to-reel and 8-track tape equipment. He doesn’t use it, it just sits, but he won’t get rid of it. I asked him to at least move it to the spare bedroom, and put it next to the Victrola and the wax cylinder player. He was suitably annoyed, since he doesn’t actually have those things.
Marvin´s last blog post ..A lovely dinner with friends
August 22nd, 2010 at 7:28 pm
I have a Victrola – I believe it’s a 1916 model. I picked it up on a whim a couple of decades ago. I just decided I wanted one and went out and got it. But it’s been so long since I’ve looked “under the hood” that I totally forgot about the metal thing that makes it stop and start.
August 22nd, 2010 at 7:36 pm
Way cool Kath. You’re like the Smithsonian of bloggers!
Jeff´s last blog post ..And if were lucky- Debby Harry and Robin Leach may show up!
August 22nd, 2010 at 8:09 pm
that is freaking awesome! wow. i want one.
August 23rd, 2010 at 12:19 am
And I was so fixed on that green part being carpet! Next time I will NOT read other comments b/c they make me hang on to one specific thought. Of course either way I never would have guessed it LOL!
Katherine´s last blog post ..Last Night I Called 911
August 23rd, 2010 at 12:41 am
Nice work guys. Here is me thinking it was some kind of antique cabinet… way off.
August 23rd, 2010 at 7:00 am
Congratulations Mo (and Babs). Growing up we had three of those in my house. They are in storage now, can’t quite part with them but I don’t have the room. If your BIL needs some records to play on it I have boxes and boxes that I would love to part with.
Jen´s last blog post ..I Hate Comment Auto Responders!
August 23rd, 2010 at 8:07 am
Congratulations to the winner.
I love to see your pictures though, so vivid and colorful. Its look like I seen the actual item in front of me.
Are the winners get the Victrola gramophone? 😀
zezebel´s last blog post ..Hidup seorang Blogger contest
August 23rd, 2010 at 8:27 am
What’s a record player? That thing my Dad put his CD player on?
Actually, I’m not that young…I totally had a record player as a little kid…until I got a CD player in the 8th grade.
muskrat´s last blog post ..muskrattle and a bonzai run to portland
August 23rd, 2010 at 2:02 pm
Whooo Hooo! Congrats to Jennifer & Babs!
meleah rebeccah´s last blog post ..Sitting ‘Shoulda’
August 23rd, 2010 at 4:08 pm
My mind works wrong for this kind of thing. But I’m glad Jen and Mo got it!
Linda Medrano´s last blog post ..Massage Envy
August 23rd, 2010 at 4:49 pm
Babs and Mo — I’m happy she got it! And sorry, but I had that song in my head all day too. Though it is kinda nice, isn’t it?
Karen — Aw, too bad. Did’ja crank it hard enough? Does it even have a crank? It cracks me up that that’s how you get it going. We thought “how far we’ve come.” My iPod Nano weighs only a few ounces. And that thing is a beast!
Sniffie and the Florida Furkids — I’m so glad to see you back here. Missed ya!
ann — You’re not the only one. Sorry. I think?
Daisy the Curly Cat — I bet you look pretty when you dance. You should! You have two extra legs!
Cats Goats Quotes — It is lovely. We just kept staring at it, wide-eyed. Amazing!
Marvin — Har! My God. 8 track tape. I remember those!
Janiss — Good for you! Smart shopper. I wish I had one of my own, just to look at. Wouldn’t even have to work.
Jeff — I told my brother-in-law it’s so much work using his weird finds. He and my sister’s house is full of strange objects. I have another thing of his to put up, but I doubt anyone will get it. I’ve never heard of such an instrument, so it’ll be a real hard one if I do.
v — Me three!
Katherine — Ha! That’s the problem, isn’t it? Sometimes it’s helpful to read other people’s comments, but yeah, it can backfire.
Renee — Well, it was a cabinet of sorts. Not so far off.
Jen — Three??? That’s an embarrassment of riches! It blew my mind that the records not only were in one piece, but played quite nicely too. Keep your stuff. I wouldn’t part with them either. No way.
zezebel — I love looking at them too. It’s so interesting. So antique and gorgeous.
muskrat — Isn’t it hysterical? I can remember hovering over our stereo and blowing lint off the needle and setting it down just right. Sounds so positively medieval.
meleah rebeccah — I’m impressed with their knowledge. You know, I could never guess these myself if I was on the other side of the contest.
Linda Medrano — Me too. I could never guess them. In fact, I know a few other people who’ve picked up on this game and I never get the objects they put up. I suck at this.
August 23rd, 2010 at 5:42 pm
It’s in amazing condition for its age. I love seeing these kinds of things when I’m out antiquing. I was very sad when I had to scrap my old record player, but there’s no way I’d ever part with the records.
August 24th, 2010 at 8:41 am
I guess I’ll just have to blame my age on this one. I’m just too YOUNG to know what a gramaphone is!!!!
August 24th, 2010 at 11:50 am
You see, I knew there was something beneficial about being older 😉
Babs – beetle´s last blog post ..Big Brown Eyes
August 24th, 2010 at 12:33 pm
Wow! This is so chic and unique. I haven’t seen like this in my 23 years of existence. Hopefully I can touch and play my own Bach or Mozart classical songs there.=)
August 25th, 2010 at 9:34 am
I never imagined how beautiful this gramophone looks now !
And amazing condition, isnt’ it ?
Congratulations to winners !
August 26th, 2010 at 1:04 am
Do you just have a bunch of crap in your garage that you hone in on and take a weird angle picture for WTW?
You have the coolest stuff, and a lot of it and I’m imagining that either your garage looks like a scene from Hoarders, or you moonlight as a curator at a museum.
Margaret (Nanny Goats)´s last blog post ..Distractions on a Manhattan Sidewalk
August 26th, 2010 at 12:32 pm
ConCatulations to both winners!
August 27th, 2010 at 1:44 pm
Woo-hoo! Congrats to the winners! I am happy also because having never seen a gramophone pedal, I now feel less losery about not actually guessing this one!
YAY! I’m gramophone-ignorant! I would never have been able to guess, even though I can’t usually guess even things I AM familiar with! But still, YAY for a nifty excuse!! 🙂
(Yes, I HAVE had some caffeine, you can’t tell can you? )
Jenn of Many Cabbages´s last blog post ..Fruit of the Loom Guys Experience Spy Infiltration
September 22nd, 2010 at 7:36 am
Look really good. My family also has an old record player, but has been unable to work.
November 9th, 2010 at 4:30 pm
Beautiful piece of equipment… I’d pick one of those up if I ever see one!