Page Title

In 1893 a new talking machine of a totally different design to the cylinder machines was put on the market.

Emile Berliner had devised a machine which he called the Gramophone, which used the flat record process.

His machines were simple hand-powered devices that would not permit a steady sound. He needed to find a better way, so he hired Eldridge Johnson to invent a motor that by cranking it, the machine would have a steady motion in playing records. Not only did Johnson make a silent and long-running spring motor for the Gramophone, but by 1897 he had a contract to manufacture the entire machine.

This is my VICTOR I Talking Machine dating around 1910.

Production was between 1903-1920 with a price range of $22.00-$30.00.

Victor introduced a family of six talking machines that would form the foundation of the company's tremendous growth during the following decade. This was the smallest of the six machines known as "VICTOR THE FIRST".

In August 1906 Eldridge Johnson introduced a new kind of talking machine. He called it the "VICTROLA".

He noticed that a large number of the public felt that the instrument was an eyesore with its ungainly horn and wouldn't permit one in their home. His idea was to conceal the horn inside.

He called it the " VICTOR-VICTROLA".

The word "OLA" meaning inside.

This Victor-Victrola XVI pictured here dates around 1916 and was the second style for this model.

The XVI first style had what they called "L" shaped doors covering the horn area with a higher lid.

It was made by the Pooley Company, who started making the cabinets for Johnson.

Later Johnson's Company would start making the

Victrola's.

The Victrola XVI was only the first of a long new line of products in the Victor family tree.

The production run was from 1907-1921. With a price range of $200.00-$750.00.

This was a pricey piece to own in it's day when you consider the average wage was about $5.00 per week in the early years.

Each piece of lumber was individually inspected. There were about eight

thousand employees at the Victor plant. About five thousand of them were

employed in the construction of the cabinets. All the fine carving's on the

Victrola's were done by hand.

If you would like to here some old "late 1800's" recordings of records from the Emile Berliner collection you can click on this link:

EMILE BERLINER RECORDINGS

and it will send you to the American Memory home page of the Library of Congress. Many recordings can be heard there.

Problems arose with Berliner in court over the Gramophone and Eldridge Johnson quickly responded by attaining the assests of the company including the Amercian copyright to the certain painting of a terrier listening to

"HIS MASTER'S VOICE" and reorganized the company as the

" CONSOLIDATED TALKING MACHINE COMPANY"

Later he renamed his company " VICTOR TALKING MACHINE COMPANY" in 1901.

The History of Nipper and His Master's Voice

Nipper the dog was born in Bristol in Gloucester, England in 1884 and so named because of his tendency to nip the backs of visitors' legs. When his first master Mark Barraud died destitute in Bristol in 1887, Nipper was taken to Liverpool in Lancashire, England by Mark's younger brother Francis, a painter.

In Liverpool Nipper discovered the Phonograph, a cylinder recording and playing machine and Francis Barraud "often noticed how puzzled he was to make out where the voice came from". It was three years after Nipper died that Barraud committed it to canvas.

Nipper died in September 1895, having returned from Liverpool to live with Mark Barraud's widow in Kingston-upon-Thames in Surrey, England. Though not a thoroughbred, Nipper had plenty of bull terrier in him; he never hesitated to take on another dog in a fight, loved chasing rats and had a fondness for the pheasants in Richmond Park!

In 1898 Barraud completed the painting and registered it on February 11, 1899 as "Dog looking at and listening to a Phonograph".

Barraud then decided to rename the painting "His Master's Voice" and tried to exhibit it at the Royal Academy, but was turned down. He had no more luck trying to offer it for reproduction in magazines. "No one would know what the dog was doing" was given as the reason!

Next on Barraud's list was The Edison Bell Company, leading manufacturer of the cylinder phonograph, but again without success. "Dogs don't listen to phonographs," the company said.

Barraud was given the advise to repaint the horn from black to gold, as this might better his opportunity for a sale. With this in mind, in the summer of 1899 he visited 31 Maiden Lane, home of the newly formed Gramophone Company, with a photograph of his painting and a request to borrow a brass horn.

As Barraud later wrote in an article for The Strand magazine: "The manager, Mr Barry Owen asked me if the picture was for sale and if I could introduce a machine of their own make, a Gramophone, instead of the one in the picture. I replied that the picture was for sale and that I could make the alteration if they would let me have an instrument to paint from."

On September 15, 1899, The Gramophone Company sent Barraud a letter making him a formal offer for the picture, which he immediately accepted. He was paid £50 for the painting and a further £50 for the full copyright. The deal was finally confirmed on October 4, 1899 when a representative from The Gramophone Company saw the amended painting for the first time.

This painting made its first public appearance on The Gramophone Company's advertising literature in January 1900, and later on some novelty promotional items. However, "His Master's Voice" did not feature on the Company's British letter headings until 1907. The painting and title were finally registered as a trademark in 1910.

To learn more about the Victrola, I would suggest clicking on the link

below:

VICTOR VICTROLA WEB SITE

This web site is unbelievable! I spent hours and hours reading about the

Victrola from this site.

Another site I highly recommend is:

THE OLD CRANK WEB SITE

A great collection of Phonographs for you to view along with information, pictures, and items for sale. One of the first sites I started with and still keep going back.

More will follow, keep checking back for more

information and links.

BUT, you can still go to my other pages listed below.