Category Archives: Phonograph History

1918 Nightingale Phonograph

1918JuneTalkingMachineWorldShown here is an ad for phonographs from the Nightingale Mfg. Co. of 422-26 Armour Street, Chicago.  The ad, which appeared a hundred years ago this month in the June 1918 issue of Talking Machine World, describes the Nightingale as “the highest quality machine offered to the American public.”

But despite the laudatory description, Nightingale apparently never caught on. It is relegated to this listing of hundreds of “off brand” phonographs of the era.

There is a collection of a set of photos of a nicely preserved Nightingale phonograph at this link.  The nameplate on this phonograph indicates that the Nightingale was manufactured by H.B. Wolper & Co.  Assuming it’s the same H.B. Wolper, one of the principals caught the ire of the Federal Trade Commission a few years later regarding the way mail-order groceries were advertised.



1943 Top Ten

1943Mar29BC

Here are the top ten songs of the week 75 years ago, according to the March 29, 1943, issue of Broadcasting magazine.  For your listening pleasure, here are links to the songs:

 



Brox Sisters

File:BroxSistersRadioTeddyBear.jpgShown here in the mid-1920s are the Brox Sisters tuning in to some program on their radio.

The Brox Sisters, Patricia, Bobbe, and Loryane, (left to right in the photo)  grew up in Tennessee and began touring the U.S. and Canada on the Vaudeville circuit in the 1910’s, and at the start of the 1920’s, they moved to Broadway, where they performed in Irving Berlin’s Music Box Revue from 1921 to 1924.  They also appeared on stage with the Marx Brothers and the Ziegfeld Follies of 1927.  They also appeared in a number of movies, both shorts and feature films, in the 1930’s.

The sisters can be heard in this 1929 recording of Singing In The Rain:



1944 Toy Phonographs

1944SearsToyPhonoI was a little bit surprised to see these phonographs for sale in a wartime catalog, but they are shown here in the 1944 Sears Christmas catalog.

They’re surprising for a couple of reasons.  First, they’re an interesting juxtaposition of an acoustic phonograph with an electric motor.  I assumed that acoustic phonographs were wind-up models, and that electronic phonographs had an electric motor.  But there’s no reason why there can’t be some overlap..

But I was more surprised to see phonographs for sale, despite the fact that the manufacture of phonographs had ended by order of the War Production Board (WPB) on April 22, 1942.  It’s unlikely that there was much old stock left in the Sears warehouse at that point (although it’s not at all unlikely that there were electric phonograph motors left over when the ban went into effect).

Interestingly, these are not being sold as phonographs.  They are being sold as toy phonographs.  I’m not aware that the WPB made an exception for acoustic phonographs.  But apparently, they did make an exception for toy phonographs.

The model on the right looks like a toy, especially with the decorations.  But the model on the left doesn’t really look like a toy.  It looks more like just a low-end portable phonograph.  I suspect that more than a few were sold, not for the kids, but because it was the only new phonograph people were able to buy.

The video below shows a similar instrument manufactured, surprisingly, as late as 1974:



1917 Stewart Phonograph

1917DecTalkingMachineThis ad directed at dealers appeared a hundred years ago this month in the December 1917 issue of Talking Machine magazine.  It’s for a relatively inexpensive compact phonograph from the Stewart Phonograph Corp. of 327 Wells Street, Chicago.

According to the ad, thousands of them would “be sent to the boys in the Army and Navy.  It is most suitable as a gift for Uncle Sam’s fighting men.  It is easy to see that large numbers will be sold.”  Of course, those fighting men would need the optional carrying case, turning it into the “Military Special” for a total price of $11.

It turns out that the Steward Phonograph Corporation ceased business in the United States in about 1920, but most of the assets were sold to a Canadian subsidiary, which continued production of an identical unit.  It also turns out that the proprietor of the company was John Stewart, who later became one of the principals of Stewart-Warner radio.

References

 



Nipper Goes to War: 1917

1917Nov26PGHWith the nation at war, the Victor Talking Machine Company was doing its patriotic duty by cranking out phonographs and records.  This ad appeared in the Pittsburgh Press a hundred years ago today, November 26, 1917.



1917 Foreign Records

1917NovTalkingMachine1917NovTalkingMachine2A hundred years ago this month, the November 1917 issue of Talking Machine World offered some advice for phonograph retailers seeking to “reach talking machine buyers of foreign birth.” The magazine noted that dealers in cities with a large foreign element had come to realize the profitable opportunities presented by featuring foreign records. “It has been found that nothing so stimulates the sale of talking machines and records in foreign sections as the fact that foreigners can secure records of their native music offered in their native language.”

One success story was Grinnell Bros. of 243-247 Woodward Avenue, Detroit.  (It appears that the streets had been renumbered, since the previous link identifies the company’s building as being at 1515 Woodward Avenue.)  That company had great success with advertising in foreign-language newspapers catering to the many immigrants working in Detroit’s auto industry. Examples in German and Polish were shown, in addition to the Russian ad shown here. The magazine noted that the newspapers would be happy to translate the ad copy.

The image shown above appeared elsewhere in the magazine. It is a window display offered by Columbia to highlight the company’s foreign records.

 



The Elusive 16 RPM Record

1957AugPESixty years ago, the August 1957 issue of Popular Electronics carried an article about the forgotten stepchild of audio recording: The 16 RPM record. More precisely, the records played at 16-2/3 revolutions per minute, and most moderately priced phonographs in the 1960’s would play the speed, along with the more common 33, 45, and 78 RPM speeds.

The 1957 article predicted, erroneously it turns out, that “the growing catalog of recorded material and new playback equipment in all price ranges proclaim that the tide may yet turn to 16 rpm and roll into the arena with quite a splash.”

A few musical recordings were issued on 16 RPM. Most notably, some records were produced for the benefit of Chrysler’s Hiway Hi-Fi experiment, which included a record player for the car. But the article noted that the speed, while longer playing, had inherently lower fidelity than higher speeds. At the time, the maximum frequency response went only to about 9000 Hz. The format was used mostly for “talking books.” The best seller was probably the Bible, which was recorded in the early 1950’s at the lower speed. If you search eBay today for 16 RPM records, the most common search result is this talking Bible.

As a kid, my record player had the setting for 16 RPM. Eventually, curiosity got the better of me, and I checked out a 16 RPM talking book from the library, just so that I could play it at home.

1957AugPE2The article does include an interesting adapter, shown here. While the mechanical details are not explained, it allows a 16 RPM record to be played on a 33 RPM turntable. Presumably, it is powered by the spinning 33 RPM platter, and gears this down to 16 RPM for the record placed on top.