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Victor Type Z

RARITY: ¤¤   VALUE:  ¤¤¤ 

The Victor Z was introduced in 1903, at a time when Victor's product line was expanding and advancing very rapidly. It was intended as an introductory model for budget-minded buyers, replacing the basic Victor R model. The Z featured an 8" turntable and single spring motor with a basic oak cabinet (left).  It sold new for $20.00, which equates to approximately $575.00 in today's money. A stamped steel horn was standard along with an Exhibition Soundbox.  It should be noted that there was a great deal of "design overlap" between the later versions of the Victor R, the Victor Z and Victor I models, some of which shared identical cabinets and components. This is likely due to the fact that the factory was simply churning-out these machines (and using-up available parts) without much regard for product continuity or model positioning at a time when demand for phonographs was growing at a frenzied pace. In addition, the huge factory fire of April 1904, may have destroyed past production files as well as machine cabinets, components and serial number tags. It is then possible that the plant started piecing-together whatever components they could find when production got back into operation, starting with any new serial number sequence they chose.  Exact production totals for the Victor Z are unknown, since the surviving factory production information is very sparse for this model. Based on a large database of surviving examples, it appears as if large blocks of serial numbers were skipped in production; to the best that can be determined, a minimum of 20,000 (and quite possibly many thousands more) were made during its 2 year run. The Victor Z was phased-out when the Victor I was introduced. At present, there is not a good correlation between serial number and production date for this model.

The current survival database shows the earliest existent Victor Z to be S/N 1643 and the latest to be S/N 54911.

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