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Victor Type E

RARITY: ¤¤   VALUE:  ¤¤¤ 

The Victor E (initially advertised as the Monarch Junior) was introduced as a mid-level machine in 1902 (left), and sold new for $25.00, which equates to about $750.00 in today's money. It was a 'step down' from the elegant Monarch, but still featured a nice cabinet in quarter-sawn oak with corner columns.  It featured a 7" turntable, and a basic single-spring motor which was more than adequate to play a complete record without winding.  Earliest examples used a front-mount tonearm (left). A 'rigid arm' design was then produced for a short period, and finally a rear-mount configuration became standard, and the turntable size was increased to 8" (right) and eventually to 10".  The price was also increased to $30.00 at that time. A variety of horn options were available, ranging from a simple stamped steel horn to various small flower or wood horns.
Early Victor E's will have "pre-dog" Victor dataplates. It should be noted that these early machines were not produced in sequential production configurations; in other words, some examples with low serial numbers may be found with the later 10" turntables, while others with high serial numbers may have earlier front-mount horns. It is apparent that Victor did not coordinate the attachment of sequential dataplates to the design configuration being produced.  It is quite possible that serialized cabinets were stockpiled and later pulled for assembly with whatever hardware happened to be available on the plant floor that day. In addition, the disastrous factory fire of 1904, which destroyed much of the factory inventory and record-keeping systems, certainly created a great deal of discontinuity in their production processes.
The brass and steel horn was standard along with an Exhibition Soundbox.  The Victor E became the Victor II in 1903, although it is certain that "E" designated models continued to roll off the assembly line until 1905.  Exact production numbers are unknown, but are assumed to be approximately 60,000 units during the 3 year run; unconfirmed reports have indicated that serial numbers well above 80,000 exist.
Original factory production information on many of the external-horn models is unreliable, and there is not currently a good correlation between serial number and production date for this model. 

The current survival database shows the earliest existent Victor E to be S/N 502 and the latest to be S/N 58266. See information above for serial numbers above this range.

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