The end of VM.....

[electra225]

Ken mentioned that Admiral made their record changers. Zenith, Magnavox and RCA did, too, maybe others. This brings up a question. If the record player manufacturers started making their own changers, could that have hastened the demise of the VM Corporation? And what was the last year for a Collaro changer? Did not some of the really late Magnavox console stereos have BSR changers?

[TC Chris]

Philco made their own changers, into the '50s at least.

Chris Campbell

[Ken Doyle]

Let me see what I can remember, hopefully without screwing it up.

Philco made their own record changers until the late 1950s when they switched to Webcor, and then to V-M.

Admiral made their own record changers from the 1940s to, at least, the late 1960s.

Zenith made their own changers, began using V-M in the late 1950s, but still made their own belt-drive changer for their top of the line models.

Magnavox used Seeburg record changers in the 1940s, Webster-Chicago changers in the early 1950s, and V-M changers for a short time in the mid-1950s before switching to Collaro. In 1960, Magnavox bought Collaro. Collaro made record changers until 1992, which I believe is a few years after BSR had thrown in the towel. I often hear of BSR record changers in later Magnavox consoles, but have never seen one. Note that the last of the Collaro changers look quite a bit like a BSR, but they are true Collaros, with the tonearm tapping the record to check the size.

RCA made their own record changers from the late 1920s until they began making phonographs that played Columbia's "LP" format about 1950. They used Milwaukee-Erwood changers for a year or two before swithing to V-M. After a couple of years of using V-M changers, RCA came out with their own 3-speed changer with a design which was similar to the V-M mechanism. The exception here is the 45-RPM changers. The RP-168 was made by RCA, the RP-190 was made by RCA with some production farmed out to Crescent, and the RP-193 was made by Oak.

General Electric used mostly Milwaukee-Erwood changers before switching to V-M, using Garrard changers in their higher end units in the early 1960s. Shortly later, GE switched to Glaser Steers changers, then bought out Glaser Steers, cheapened the Glaser Steers design, and the GE changer was born.

Sears Silvertone -- I'm not sure who made their 78 RPM changers, but I believe they used VM for a time in the early 1950s before switching the Crescent.

I believe it was BSR who ran V-M out of business. During the 1970s record changers, and ordinary consumer grade stereos in general, became not only less expensive but also more cheaply built, and the ubiquitous BSR record changer fit that application.

[electra225]

Thank you, Ken. That filled in a lot of the blanks for me. Merry Christmas !

[Ken Doyle]

Merry Christmas to you!

[William]

Thank you, Ken, for the history lesson. Now all I need to do is remember it. Merry Christmas to you, and thanks again.

Bill