Victor P Series
The
Victor P Models (P stands for "Premium") were very basic phonographs intended to be given
away as a
bonus gift for sellers of magazine subscriptions, sheet music, or other items.
In the early years of the 20th Century, the term "premium" did not have the
connotation most used today, but rather was "a consideration or compensation
paid for completion of a contract" (per the 1904 version of Webster's
Dictionary). Therefore, distributors of various products could purchase a large
quantity of P-series machines directly from Victor at minimal cost (probably
about $1.50 each). The distributors could then offer them as
"motivators" for their salespeople if they sold, for example, 10 periodical
subscriptions or 20 ironing boards. Since these phonographs were basically
give-away items, they had to be very inexpensive to manufacture; therefore the P
models used the most basic design possible, with a small single spring motor, a
simple stamped steel horn and a plain oak cabinet. At least 4 variations of
this P-series are known, designed as P, P-1, P-2, or P-3. These were all
produced between 1902 and 1907; by that time, the design of these
machines was rapidly becoming obsolete, and would consequently garner less interest as a promotion gift.
In addition, manufacturing costs were rising, and the cost of the P became
unreasonable for a give-away item. The later models ("P-2", "P-3") became even more basic than earlier versions (to save on production costs) and ultimately became rather crude.
Accurately dating these machines is a challenging process. The first "P" machines were
certainly introduced in 1902, and the "P-3" phonographs were manufactured at the
end of the production run during 1906-1907. Differences between these
incremental design variations can be significant and involved
modifications to the cabinet or hardware; two different configurations are shown
on this page. Cabinets and horns decreased in size and quality over time,
presumably because Victor was working to minimize production costs. It is
unknown how many P-series were produced, since factory
records do not include this model, but it appears Victor made quite a few of
them during this 4-year period. To further complicate matters, 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. Based on serial numbers of surviving examples, the
following production estimates seem likely:
| Model | Production Estimate |
|---|---|
| P | 20,000 |
| P-1 | 5,000 |
| P-2 | 6,000 |
| P-3 | 6,000 |
It also appears that serialization for "P1" models picked-up where "P" models stopped at around s/n 20,000, and that serialization for "P-2" and "P-3" were both reset to "0" for each model. At present, there is not a solid correlation between serial numbers and production dates for this model. Given that the "low-end" phonographs such as the "Victor P", "Victor Jr." or "Victor 0" were considered to be nothing more than toys when new and were not very durable, most were trashed when they became obsolete or worn-out; as a result, not many have survived, and collector interest for these models remains moderately high. Survival rates for Victor P machines are far lower than for the higher-quality models, such as the Victor II or Victor III. The cabinets for these low-end models were certainly not manufactured by Victor after 1904, as was the case with many other external horn models.
The current survival database shows the earliest existent Victor "P" to be S/N 619 and the latest Victor "P-3" to be S/N 5940.
Do you own a Victor P? 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.