Looking for ideas

[Old house lady]

I fell in love with (and bought) a victrola cabinet - just the cabinet, no turntable or horn, so it was pretty cheap. Original thought was to use it as a plant stand, until I remembered that no matter how careful you are, there will be spills and damage. Would a minibar, similar to one of those globes that hold a few liquor decanters, work?.
Where the turntable once sat is open to the small, upper cabinet and is less than a foot deep. Before starting to remove any parts, I thougjt I'd ask aound on here. Heck, with this group, there may be someone who's already done what I'm thinking of!

[Lily left the valley]

Beautiful piece.

You may be able to find the missing pieces, or work with an equivalent that's not as period.

As to the bar idea, although I like it, if you were worried about spills with plants, wouldn't drinks carry some of the same risk? I mean, I know the leaves can scatter water more easily than just pouring drinks, but it was what sprang to mind when I read about the possible minibar.

Another thought that came to mind is it might make for a really unique dessert station. The plates could go underneath where the records would have gone, with a drawer made for silverware to fit in another slot, and possibly coffee/tea service (cups, saucers, sugar/cream/etc. would be stored in the upper part of the cabinet.

Whatever the dessert is could simply rest on top if you won't want to take out the bits that are still in there and put in a shelf to use the top open style for a more dramatic look. If you do put them on top, you might want to buy/make some sort of pad (like for a dining room table), using the pad to protect the wood, although a decorative cloth could work if the dessert wasn't overly cold or hot.

[Old house lady]

I hadn't considered liquor spillage - my globe bar exposure is limited to seeing them in old movies. A dessert station! That's something I never would have thought of - and an awesome idea!

A tea service would fit in there nicely, and a crocheted doily (sp?) on top.

Thanks! Will post pics when its all together!

[Lily left the valley]

:doh: I hadn't considered liquor spillage - my globe bar exposure is limited to seeing them in old movies. A dessert station! That's something I never would have thought of - and an awesome idea!

A tea service would fit in there nicely, and a crocheted doily (sp?) on top.

Thanks! Will post pics when its all together!

Woo! Looking forward to them when time allows the putting together part.

I think it's doily too. *checks* Yep. Some words, no matter how many times I see them, I'm never sure.

[Sow's Ear Mal]

You could have a piece of glass cut with ground edges to cover the top. That said, using it for a liquor cabinet probably won't be too spilly, I would think. I have the twin to your cabinet. I'm going to use it as a sewing box.

[Al F. Furnituremaker]

Here's some ideas.

https://www.pinterest.com/denisebickfor ... -victrola/

Funny this came up, I'm doing a restoration of one of those cabinets right now.

[1918ColonialRevival]

That was a VV-XI, manufactured between 1912 and 1921. The missing parts for this can be located fairly easily, as Victor sold more of this model than any other. However, if you're wanting to customize it, this one will be a good candidate since it is nothing rare.

I've seen them altered to hold CDs/DVDs before and they'll hold quite a few. A liquor cabinet might be a little awkward with this given the narrow width, but they've been done before.

If you're looking for a horizontal phono cabinet from the early '20s (might be better mini-bar material), I've got an empty one that you can have if you're ever down this way!

[Gothichome]

Lily, I have see a carcass used to hide electronics for stereos, home theatres and the like.

[Lily left the valley]

Lily, I have see a carcass used to hide electronics for stereos, home theatres and the like.

*nods* You could also use one for storage of puzzles and games, although since some game boards are long, you'd adjust the interals and keep them upright, I'd guess.

Since she initially mentioned the mini bar, I kept with the consumables notion, and that led me to dessert.

[phil]

as a radio collector I dont' collect them too often but I come across the odd wind up phono. a friend of mine gave me a "brunswick" one that was of the type that came in a square box with a lift up lid. Shortly after I found a nice cabinet with legs. art art nouveau with cabriolet legs, it's not worth a fortune but it is a beautiful piece. the cabinet was advertised on Craigslist and coincidentally was just a couple houses away. it is a bit unusual in that it is about 30 inches tall and wider. like a dresser in size and the condition was nice. The owner had taken the wind up phono out and for some reason had cleaned parts and set them outside and they were stolen so it had been sitting incomplete.

the phono matched perfectly. I had to modify the wooden horn very slightly to fit in the larger cabinet but it worked and any mods are not visible..

I would encourage you to find the missing phono and enjoy it as the antique it was meant to be. So many of those have already been destroyed by turning them into liqueur cabinets or dropping in modern phonos. This has been the demise of many nice old radios as well. It would be more fun to wind it up and play it. Mine is of great fascination to youngsters and the old 78's aren't' too hard to come across. I love to get them to wind it up and play it and then remind them that it doesn't even need power. It's a piece of history and worthy of restoration.

I see things differently because I collect radios and one thing I love to do is find partial sets and hunt down the missing parts. In many cases it means buying one half and waiting for years for their missing bits. That's part of the hobby. You could probably do a bit of research and find local phono collectors and get their advice. you'll probably find one with a good phono and a bad cabinet due to wet storage that would be happy to marry that one.
here is a complete one.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Victrola-Mfg-by ... 2333893984

maybe this is the right motor?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Victor- ... 1960244872

I think you'll find the missing parts if you look around a little.

have a look here :
http://www.victroladoctor.com/about-us/

and here:
http://www.antiquephono.org/