The Victor-Victrola Page   

VV-105 / VE-105

RARITY: ¤¤   VALUE:  ¤ 

The VV-105 was one of Victor's mid-priced floor-model phonographs. It was introduced in the spring of 1923, at a time when the sales of phonographs was experiencing a significant decline. The 105 was intended as a 'step-up' from the popular VV-100, offering a larger, more modern cabinet with hand-carved corner posts. The size of the horn opening was also increased with the intent of providing more sound volume for the listener. However, the 105's nickel-plated hardware and 2-spring motor were shared with the VV-100, so the overall performance of the two machines was virtually the same. Production of the VV-105 was abruptly terminated in early 1924, shortly after the VV-100 was upgraded with a newer style cabinet and larger horn configuration.
The VV-105 was available in a selection of mahogany, oak or walnut veneers, but the most popular choice by far was mahogany with a dark stain applied (left).
Sales of the VV-105 (as well as most other Victrola models) were relatively slow in 1923, and it continued to be listed in the Victor catalog for the next 2 years. Due to the massive overproduction of these machines during 1923 and 1924, it is quite likely that many late-production VV-105 models were sold during Victor's well-advertised "half-price" sale during the summer of 1925. For more information on Victor's financial crisis of 1924-1925 and the overproduction of phonographs, please click here.
The original 1923 selling price of the VV-105 was $180.00, which equates to more than $2,700.00 in today's money. An estimated total of 11,600 VV-105 models came off the assembly line during 1923 and possibly into the first few months of 1924.  Factory records indicate that a very small quantity of VE-105 (electric motor) models were also produced in 1924.

The survival database currently shows the earliest existent VV-105 to be S/N 592 and the latest to be S/N 11837

No surviving VE-105 (electric) models have been documented to date.     

Do you own a Victrola VV-105? Please take a moment and enter some basic information about your machine into the collector's database by clicking here. No personal information is required.