Cameron Freeman | 416-533-6024

Internet Strategist, Managerial Anthropologist, Rogue Archivist

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  • About Cameron R. Freeman
  • Socio-Cultural Anthropology
    • The Applied Anthropology Group
    • Anthropology of Culture
      • Population Control and the Colonization of Women’s Bodies in a Neo-Liberal World
      • Marketing Feminine Hygiene in a Capitalist Consumer Driven Society
      • Israeli Personhood and the Politics of Reproductive Technologies
      • The cultural biography of the Verner’s Pattern prismatic compass
      • Kinship, Kin Cues and the Fulfillment of Institutional Aims
    • Anthropology of Religion: General
      • Anthropology of Indigenous Peoples
      • A Comparison of Schleiermacher’s Inner Religious Sanctuary and the External Domain of Robert Orsi’s Religious World
      • Religion: The promise of an afterlife
      • Spiritual Interventions: Inside A.A.’s Fundamentalist Healing Program of Faith With Works
    • Medical Anthropology
      • Book Review: Reproducing Jews: A Cultural Account of Assisted Conception in Israel by Susan Kahn
      • Illness Narratives and the Construction of Self and Healing
      • Collaborative partnering with traditional healers for improved access to ARVs in rural Malawi
      • Ayurvedic Ethics and Modern Medical Ethics
    • Anthropology of Religion: Hindu Tradition
      • Constructing and Deconstructing the Bonds of Modern Guruship in the Cult of Sai Baba
      • Maintaining the Guru’s Hegemonic Influence Over Devotees
      • Christianity in British Colonial India and the Crystallization of Modern Hindu Religious Identities
      • The Dynamics of Bhakti in the Guru-Shishya Relationship
      • A Film Critique of Robert Gardner’s Video Ethnography: Forest of Bliss
      • To Love Siva is to Know Siva: Reflections on Ciruttontar—the Little Devotee
    • Anthropology of Religion: Asian Traditions
      • A Precis of Thomas A Wilson’s Sacrifice and the Imperial Cult of Confucius
      • A working definition of the Chinese term ‘wuwei’ (nonaction, doing nothing)
      • Chinese Popular Religion
      • Shang Divination: A Theocratic Stage for Emerging Chinese Religious Thought and Practice
    • Anthropology of Indigenous Peoples
      • Settler Colonialism and Eliminating the Native
      • Identity, Social Invisibility, Institutional Structures of Violence and the Mortality of Aboriginal Women
      • Define or be defined: Constructing indigenous identities for health and well being
      • Recovering Native Identities: From a traumatic ruptured past to a locally driven pan-Native spiritual present for holistic health and well being
      • The Legacy of Colonial Intrusions and Native Women’s Health
    • Anthropology of Religion: Judeo-Christian Tradition
      • Scribes, Prophets, & Temple Priests: The process of establishing and maintaining Judean boundaries through the canonization of scripture.
      • Honour and Shame and the Qualifications of the Overseer (bishop) in Timothy 3:1-7
      • The successful transmission of Paul’s expectations for a centrifugal missionary tradition in the early Christian Church
      • A hypothesis for the original oral version of the Parable of the Sower
      • Jesus and First Century Jewish Purity Laws
      • Who were the post-Wycliffe Lollards, what did they practice and what became of their movement?
      • Holiness Snake-handling: A Context for Pentecostal Epistemology
  • Principia Discordia
    • Contemporary Archaeology
      • WW1 Verners pattern MKVII military marching compass
      • Antique gramophone lovers beware of crap-o-phones and franken-phones
      • Come into my parlor for afternoon tea and listen to my “authentic” Victor Victrola
    • Confessions of A Cult Leader: My Lifestream Seminar Experience
      • Confessions of a Cult Leader or How I learned to get the best of life running a personal development seminar company.
      • Confessions of A Cult Leader: Thursday Evening of the Lifestream Basic Seminar
      • Confessions of A Cult Leader: Friday Evening of the Lifestream Basic Seminar
      • Confessions of A Cult Leader: Saturday Morning of the Lifestream Basic Seminar
      • Confessions of A Cult Leader: Saturday Afternoon of the Lifestream Basic Seminar
      • Confessions of A Cult Leader: Saturday Evening of the Lifestream Basic Seminar
      • Confessions of A Cult Leader: Sunday of the Lifestream Basic
      • Excerpt: The pit: a group encounter defiled, by Gene Church and Conrad DCarnes. (Out of Print)
      • Courage
      • Please Hear What I’m NOT Saying
      • Love is NOT enough! – A Handout at the Lifestream Basic Seminar
      • The girl I used to know – A Handout at the Lifestream Basic Seminar
      • The Penalty of Leadership – A Handout at the Lifestream Basic Seminar
      • The Little Boy who put the world back together: A story by Jim Quinn, Founder of the Lifestream Basic Seminar
      • Clarifying questions – Asked throughout the Lifestream Basic Seminar
      • Guiseppe – A story by Jim Quinn, Founder of the Lifestream Basic Seminar
      • Mexican Crabs – A story by Jim Quinn, Founder of the Lifestream Basic Seminar
    • Charles Haanel: The Master Key System
      • Part One: The Master Key System by Charles Haanel
      • Part Two: The Master Key System by Charles Haanel
      • Part Three: The Master Key System by Charles Haanel
      • Part Four: The Master Key System by Charles Haanel
      • Part Five: The Master Key System by Charles Haanel
      • Part Six: The Master Key System by Charles Haanel
      • Part Seven: The Master Key System by Charles Haanel
      • Part Eight: The Master Key System by Charles Haanel
      • Part Nine: The Master Key System by Charles Haanel
      • Part Ten: The Master Key System by Charles Haanel
      • Part Eleven: The Master Key System by Charles Haanel
      • Part Twelve: The Master Key System by Charles Haanel
      • Part Thirteen: The Master Key System by Charles Haanel
      • Part Fourteen: The Master Key System by Charles Haanel
      • Part Fifteen: The Master Key System by Charles Haanel
      • Part Sixteen: The Master Key System by Charles Haanel
      • Part Seventeen: The Master Key System by Charles Haanel
      • Part Eighteen: The Master Key System by Charles Haanel
      • Part Nineteen: The Master Key System by Charles Haanel
      • Part Twenty: The Master Key System by Charles Haanel
      • Part Twenty-One: The Master Key System by Charles Haanel
      • Part Twenty-Two: The Master Key System by Charles Haanel
      • Part Twenty-Three: The Master Key System by Charles Haanel
      • Part Twenty-Four: The Master Key System by Charles Haanel
  • Presentations
    • Rules For Results
    • Media Skills Training
      • Case Study: Guerrilla tactics for maximizing the results of your media campaign
    • Keynote & Workshop Accolades
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Come into my parlor for afternoon tea and listen to my "authentic" Victor Victrola

As an addendum to my article, “Antique gramophone lovers beware of crap-o-phones and franken-phones”, the antique dealer who sold us the machine was shocked to find out it was a crap-o-phone, saying “She had no idea that it was a fake” and promptly refunded our money.

My enthusiasm for getting a real gramophone had not wavered so when I received a phone call from Bob Nix telling me he had a nice machine for sale and was happy to loan it to me to try out, I readily accepted.

My wife and I attended the Canadian Antique Phonograph Society’s November 2004 meeting which was really terrific because many of the members brought their beloved gramophones in for a special “show and tell” session. We saw lots of different models and makes which was very informative and educational. Of course CAPS President, Bob Nix was there to greet us once again and he presented us with an authentic Victorla VV-IV Model. This is a lidless, internal horn gramophone. Apparently the “Edwardians” found the external horn gramophones to be clumsy and bulky, taking up too much space in the parlor. The upper classes, which bought most machines, resented how dust collected on horns and complained that they were eyesores so the market responded with internal horn gramophones in variety of shapes and sizes. Bob told us that our machine was made in 1916 (serial numbers for this year ran 215000-290000 with an E suffix – some machines use “IV-” as model designation after mid year). In addition, Bob got us going with 50 needles that included both thin needles for soft tone and some thick needles for loud tone. The Victrola works great and we’ve already listened to my wife’s Mother’s favourite vintage 78s and we were both hooked on our new acquisition. I called Bob later in the week to let him know that we would purchase the machine and of course he was delighted.

Victrola VV-IV Background

The IV was Victor’s lowest priced model for many years. Production was started in September of 1911. Full production was discontinued in early 1924; however VV-IV’s were still being assembled and shipped in low volumes as late as the spring of 1926. Catalogs state that the only available finish was oak, although several mahogany examples have apparently turned up in the hands of collectors; these were made near the end of the model run. Very early VV-IV’s had a stamped steel grille covering the horn; subsequent versions had conventional wood slats in the horn opening. In 1917, the slats were again removed, revealing a hollow horn opening. Apparently, this was not a popular cost-cutting move, and the slats re-appeared the following year. Several design changes were made during production of this Victrola, as indicated by the change of suffix letter after the serial number. Most changes were of a very minor nature. The IV used a simple single-spring motor.

gramophone needle tins

The original 1911 selling price of the IV was $15.00. At the end of the model run, it sold new for $25.00. An estimated total of 608,000 Victrola IV’s were produced.

Mechanically, the Victrola is a device for converting recorded sound waves again into sound. The sound waves are recorded in a spiral groove on the face of the disc record.

Reproduction, perfect in every detail, is made at will through the medium of the needle, the sound box and the amplifier. The needle traces the sound wave spiral on the rotating record, carrying the mica diaphragm of the sound box with it in sympathetic vibration. In turn, the diaphragm causes the air in the sound box to vibrate, inducing sound waves that are restored, to the quality and approximate volume of the original.

A typical Victrola reproducing and amplifying mechanism, with the cabinet cut away is shown on Page 3. The spring motor beneath the turntable is wound with the winding key, either when the instrument is playing, or silent. On unwinding, the motor rotates the turntable at the turntable at the constant speed required for perfect reproduction.

The whole mechanism has the simplicity of perfection. Each detail is the result of numberless experiments and tests, certified by satisfactory service in the hands of the public. Your Victrola should operate for years without trouble, providing the following simple instructions are followed, and in the event of trouble after extended service, your dealer will be able to replace the parts in the original perfect condition.

The Victor steel needles are made with the utmost care, and each and every one is polished to a spherical point and fits perfectly in the Victor record grooves.

For perfect reproduction and maximum record life it is recommended that you use none other than Victor steel needles. A new steel needle should be used for each record, as a steel point wears down during the playing.

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