The Decca Company made their name during the First World War by making the first easily portable gramophones that could be sent to the front lines as entertainment for the troops. (There were probably other portable machines available, but Decca got most of the credit). Genuine FWW Deccas became known as “Trench Models”. The Decca […]
Here is a nice wooden box for keeping a selection of needles with sections for new needles and a covered section for used ones. An original collector’s item from the 1920s Price, including postage £30
Steel gramophone needles should be used once or twice and then replaced, however wooden needles are available using bamboo or thorn wood. These are less damaging to prized records, are quieter in use and can be re-sharpened many times using the appropriate sharpeners. Here are two IM units for sharpening Thorn needles. Hard to find […]
This gramophone was made by the Selby Manufacturing Company London. The company produced gramophones in the early 1920s and ceased trading in 1933. They were noted for making internal horned mainly so this horned version is a rare early example. The gramophone is well made with an oak case and a particularly skillfully made wooden […]
£20 each including postage within the UK Indestructible 2 minute cylinders 24,6,26 Most phonograph cylinders produced from 1900 were made of wax. Those that have survived are often in poor condition and play badly. From 1902 experimental cylinders were produced by Edison Bell and others that were made from much tougher materials and were called […]
Here is a very nice Columbia portable in good original condition. The model 201 from abut 1930. Columbia and The Gramophone Company (HMV) were the main producers of good quality gramophones from the beginning of the 20th century and were amalgamated into EMI in 1931. At that time the most popular HMV portable was the […]
Here is another mystery gramophone that turned up recently. The case has no indication of name, but a paper label on the inside showed a picture of a gramophone called “The Majestic”. The machine is larger than normal and very heavy with a massive motor and an almost 14″ turntable. The label suggests a Pathe […]
The “Colibri” was a miniature gramophone, produced in Belgium and made available in about 1928. It has an all-metal case, just 12 x 9 x 9 cm but, when assembled, can play a standard 10″ 78 record which must be bolted down onto a 3cm turntable with a left hand threaded nut. The case itself […]
The “Gem” was the smallest of the range of phonographs produced by Thomas Edison around 1900. It was developed to compete with small Continental phonographs that had become very popular in Europe and the UK, but was much better designed. The reproducer was guided precisely across the cylinder with a feed screw instead simply following […]