1915 Victrola VV-XVIII – Mahogany

This machine has been fully restored and sold, this is an example of previous restoration work by New England Victrola & Clock. 

If you are interested in purchasing a restored version of this model Victrola, check pre-sale inventory or contact us for future availability.

1915 Victrola VV-XVIII – Mahogany

Serial Number 1098

Restored in March 2020

The VV-XVIII or “Victrola the Eighteenth”, was the short-lived ‘super-premium’ phonograph model in Victor’s 1915-1916 product lineup.   The VV-XVIII was a renewed attempt to add a high-end machine to Victor’s standard lineup of production phonographs.

Introduced in the Spring of 1915, the XVIII could be ordered from the catalog and displayed by any dealer who wished to show-off an example of Victor’s outstanding cabinet work. Retailing for $300.00 (which equates to almost $8,109.00 in 2021 money), the XVIII was certainly not intended for the average phonograph buyer. This new design was Victor’s first attempt at a mass-produced bombe’ style cabinet, with convex ‘swell’ doors and side panels. It also featured a considerable amount of hand-carved trim on the corner posts, ornate beading on the doors, Victor’s best 3-spring motor, gold-plated hardware, and premium red or brown stained mahogany wood veneers.

In addition to Mahogany, A number of other veneer options were available; Circassian or American Walnut and added $50.00 to the price tag.
An electric motor option (designed as “VE-XVIII”) was also available, adding another $50.00 to the list price if selected.

While these beautiful machines are prized by collectors today, the XVIII was not successful in the marketplace. Dealer orders were slow. It was quietly discounted by $50.00 and dropped from the catalog in late 1916, and was subsequently replaced by the less-expensive VV-XVII.  While many have surmised that the high price tag was the sole reason for the XVIII’s lack of success, several factors likely contributed to its early demise, including;  1) the buying public’s trend away from super-premium machines beginning in 1914, when the vast array of less expensive Victrolas (which performed and sounded identically to the high-price machines) were becoming more common in middle-class homes. Therefore, ownership of a super-expensive phonograph no longer had the same degree of ‘elite appeal’ as had been the case just a few years earlier; 2) the high cost of manufacture of the XVIII did not allow an adequate profit margin in low production volumes, and; 3) the XVIII cabinet was physically smaller than the ‘flagship’ VV-XVI model (it had the same mechanical components), yet it was priced $100.00 above the XVI. The XVIII may not have provided an adequate degree of perceived added-value over it’s lower-cost (yet still impressive) XVI ‘cousin’.

A total of just over 3,400 VV-XVIII’s were produced during the spring and summer of 1915. Just under 1,000 VE-XVIII’s were made, all in the second half of 1915. The fact that these machines were slow sellers from the start shows that the factory was still shipping unsold inventory of these models from storage at the plant up until the end of 1917.