Rod Lauman
Age: 44
Company: Victrola Repair Service
Technology: Phonographs
Number of repairs: About 20 a week
Location: St. Johnsbury, Vt.
Before he went full-time into the phonograph business in 2000, Lauman had a day job as a chef and was a serious collector-hobbyist squeezing in repairs on nights and weekends. These days, he runs his business out of his house, fixing phonographs that might be a century old.
Factories mass produced phonographs during their heyday, and while many ended up in the dump, Lauman says millions still exist. Their sound "will bring you back to that period in time better than anything else I know of," he says. That's why people spend more than $1,000 for a repair, though chances are the average job will fall in the $300 range.
NEXT: Dennis Wortman
