The Victor-Victrola Page   

VV 2-55

RARITY: ¤   VALUE:  ¤ 

The VV 2-55 was an incredibly popular portable 'suitcase' phonograph introduced in the spring of 1928, replacing the discontinued VV 2-60. This machine was Victor's 6th most successful product of all time, and provided exceptionally good sound quality for a small machine.  Like the 2-60, it came with a single spring motor and gold hardware. A slot was provided in the lid to store a few records. The 2-55 now offered an Orthophonic soundbox, which provided excellent acoustic linearity and output. A 'shaped' horn chamber mimicked the exponential pattern that was required to provide good bass response, although the usable space inside the small cabinet severely restricted the parameters for this type of design. Sound was then radiated from the rear opening behind the turntable and was reflected off the lid toward the listener. Therefore, the lid had to be open in order to play records. Given the low price tag for this machine, many buyers used them as their primary home phonograph, rather than shelling out hundreds of dollars on an expensive floor model Victrola or Electrola (my mother's parents being one of them!)
The 2-55 was a smashing success. It was produced well into the 1930's, long after RCA had purchased the Victor Talking Machine Company; by that time, the company had 're-branded' the machine as an RCA product. Variations on this design were used on many portable phonographs, even into the early 1950's.
The original 1928 selling price of the 2-55 was $35.00, which equates to about $525.00 in today's money. More than 280,000 Victrola 2-35 machines were produced up until October of 1929 when RCA took over. Production of those machines branded as "RCA" products (made after October 1929) is indeterminate, but based on surviving examples, consists of a minimum of 100,000 additional units. The improved RCA-designed 2-65 phonograph superseded this Victrola as the 'premium' portable machine in the summer of 1931.

The current survival database shows the earliest existent VV 2-55  to be S/N 626 and the latest to be S/N 282827 does not include models marked as "RCA" products  

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Approximate chronology of Victrola "Suitcase" portable models