Information about gramophones

The gramophone, also known as a phonograph, was a revolutionary device for playing recorded sound and became an iconic symbol of early 20th-century entertainment.

Decca Gramophone Company

The Decca Gramophone Company’s first gramophone was the portable Decca Dulcephone just before first World War. It was manufactured by the musical instrument makers Barnett Samuel and Sons Ltd, a company founded in 1869. In the 1920s the company became “The Decca Gramophone Company”. The Decca Record Company was established in 1929 in order to create the records to be played on its gramophones.

Dulceola

Dulceola was a brand name of Barnett Samuel & Sons, musical instrument dealers since the 1830’s and originators of the Decca portable gramophone in 1914. The Dulceola name was used on their internal horn machines during the 1920s.

The Gramophone Company (HMV)

The Gramophone Company Limited, also known as His Master’s Voice (HMV), was a British record label and phonograph manufacturer. The company was founded in 1898 by Emil Berliner. The company’s logo featured Nipper the Dog staring into an Edison cylinder phonograph. Sold in America under the brand name Victrola.

Columbia Graphophone Company Ltd

One of the earliest gramophone companies in the UK, Columbia Graphophone Co. was established in 1917 as an offshoot of the American Columbia Phonograph Company, becoming an independent British-owned company in 1922 in a management buy-out after the parent company went into receivership.

In 1925, it acquired a controlling interest in its American parent company to take advantage of a new electrical recording process. The British company also controlled the US operations from 1925 until 1931, when Columbia Graphophone in the UK merged with the Gramophone Company (which sold records under their His Master’s Voice label) to form EMI. At the same time, Columbia divested itself of its US branch, which eventually absorbed by Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) in 1938.

The company’s record label Columbia became a successful British brand in the 1950s and 1960s, and was eventually replaced by the newly created EMI Records, as part of a label consolidation. This in turn was absorbed by the Parlophone Records unit of Warner Music Group in 2013.

Other makers

Columbia, Decca, Zonophone, Regal, Alba, Mayfair and Songster. Gramophone motor makers Garrard, Collaro and Thorens, the Swiss clock and watch makers.