British Victor? - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

Tim Mitchell · 28th Oct 2010, 2:47 am

Hello All,

I am in Melbourne Australia, I have a radio cabinet from the 1920s that I am trying to identify. It has two holes for knobs but no dial. But the interesting thing is the circular gold insignia says victor and shows a knight on a horse with a lance. Rca never used that logo, neither did Victor in the US. Was there a British Victor in the 20s?

If anyone has seen this logo or cabinet or knows who may have made it, please let me know.

Kind Regards,
Tim.

chipp1968 · 28th Oct 2010, 8:30 am

I have never heard of them. Thats a nice cabinet .No dial? whats going on with the top?

paulsherwin · 28th Oct 2010, 9:45 am

My guess would be that this is Australian. The history of early radio in Australia is quite unusual and resulted in domestic manufacturing from the very start. I'm no expert on this subject though.

brenellic2000 · 28th Oct 2010, 10:06 am

There was indeed a 'British Victor' but more famous later for film sound equipment; they became part of EKCO and it could well be they used it as an export brand for 'visual' products rather than audio.

Barry

Tim Mitchell · 29th Oct 2010, 3:12 pm

The top is complete, however I have removed the sliding boards to show that they can be removed. I assume that they were made like that for adjustments, as the back looks like it had a panel inserted in it to close it off.

The dial was probably a small graduated metal disk mounted around the tuning knob with a pointer on the knob. Some American sets did that during this period.

There is no knowledge of an Australian victor making radios in the 20s however that doesn't mean that there wasn't of course. The timber used is a combination of black walnut and Australian Blackwood, and as blackwood was exported at that time and used in other countries for radio cabinets, it doesn't help too much.

Thanks for the tip Barry, I may look into that one.

I thought I would exhaust the other options and as a last resort assume it was Australian.

Tim.

chipp1968 · 29th Oct 2010, 11:12 pm

I had a feeling that the top was deliberately like that .It looks very late styling for top inspection panels , but that goes with an earlier dial .Interesting .

Tim Mitchell · 30th Oct 2010, 12:03 am

What I am hearing is that the styling looks like 1929 to 1930 what do you think?

28th Oct 2010, 2:47 am	#1
Tim Mitchell Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Melbourne, Australia. Posts: 3	British Victor? Hello All, I am in Melbourne Australia, I have a radio cabinet from the 1920s that I am trying to identify. It has two holes for knobs but no dial. But the interesting thing is the circular gold insignia says victor and shows a knight on a horse with a lance. Rca never used that logo, neither did Victor in the US. Was there a British Victor in the 20s? If anyone has seen this logo or cabinet or knows who may have made it, please let me know. Kind Regards, Tim. Attached Thumbnails Last edited by Brian R Pateman; 28th Oct 2010 at 6:11 am. Reason: Remotely hosted images converted to thumbnails.

28th Oct 2010, 8:30 am	#2
chipp1968 Rest in Peace Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Somerset, UK. Posts: 2,356	Re: British Victor? I have never heard of them. Thats a nice cabinet .No dial? whats going on with the top?

28th Oct 2010, 9:45 am	#3
paulsherwin Moderator Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Oxford, UK Posts: 27,970	Re: British Victor? My guess would be that this is Australian. The history of early radio in Australia is quite unusual and resulted in domestic manufacturing from the very start. I'm no expert on this subject though.

28th Oct 2010, 10:06 am	#4
brenellic2000 Octode Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Rye, East Sussex, UK. Posts: 1,647	Re: British Victor? There was indeed a 'British Victor' but more famous later for film sound equipment; they became part of EKCO and it could well be they used it as an export brand for 'visual' products rather than audio. Barry

29th Oct 2010, 3:12 pm	#5
Tim Mitchell Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Melbourne, Australia. Posts: 3	Re: British Victor? The top is complete, however I have removed the sliding boards to show that they can be removed. I assume that they were made like that for adjustments, as the back looks like it had a panel inserted in it to close it off. The dial was probably a small graduated metal disk mounted around the tuning knob with a pointer on the knob. Some American sets did that during this period. There is no knowledge of an Australian victor making radios in the 20s however that doesn't mean that there wasn't of course. The timber used is a combination of black walnut and Australian Blackwood, and as blackwood was exported at that time and used in other countries for radio cabinets, it doesn't help too much. Thanks for the tip Barry, I may look into that one. I thought I would exhaust the other options and as a last resort assume it was Australian. Tim.

29th Oct 2010, 11:12 pm	#6
chipp1968 Rest in Peace Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Somerset, UK. Posts: 2,356	Re: British Victor? I had a feeling that the top was deliberately like that .It looks very late styling for top inspection panels , but that goes with an earlier dial .Interesting .

30th Oct 2010, 12:03 am	#7
Tim Mitchell Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Melbourne, Australia. Posts: 3	Re: British Victor? What I am hearing is that the styling looks like 1929 to 1930 what do you think?