[Phono-L] mystery record
Thatcher Graham
thatcher at mediaguide.com
Wed Sep 3 19:55:44 PDT 2008
I'm familiar with the existence of the record label, what I'm not
familiar with is the pressing of 7-inch diameter brown one-sided 78s.
I've only seen them in the typical 10-inch size. Is this for some
specialty phonograph or a toy maybe?
BoehlandL at aol.com wrote:
> Also:
>
>
>
> The Gramophone Company
>
> Emile Berliner founded "The Gramophone Company" to mass manufacture
> his sound disks (records) and the gramophone that played them. To help
> promote his gramophone system Berliner did two things, he persuaded
> popular artists to record their music using his system. Two famous
> artists who signed early on with Berliner's company were Enrico Caruso
> and Dame Nellie Melba. The second smart marketing move Berliner made
> came in 1908, when he used Francis Barraud's painting of 'His Master's
> Voice
> <http://inventors.about.com/od/gstartinventions/ss/gramophone_2.htm>'
> as his company's official trademark.
>
> Emile Berliner sold the licensing rights to his patent for the
> gramophone and method of making records to the Victor Talking Machine
> Company (RCA) who made the gramophone a successful product in the
> United States. Berliner continued doing business in other countries.
> He founded the Berliner *Gram-o-phone* Company in Montreal, Canada,
> the Deutsche Grammophon in Germany, and the U.K based Gramophone Co.,
> Ltd.
>
>
> In a message dated 9/3/2008 9:30:04 P.M. Central Daylight Time,
> BoehlandL writes:
>
>
>
> In a message dated 9/3/2008 9:11:46 P.M. Central Daylight Time,
> thatcher at mediaguide.com writes:
>
> bought a box of 45s in Canada, in it was a 7-inch one-sided
> 78rpm record.
> image here:
> http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o13/josefritz/img113.jpg
>
> I can easily find references to Victor 2995, recorded July 13,
> 1904.
> But this is labeled GRAM-O-PHONE... clearly a different
> record. Can
> anyone fill me in on this?
>
> -- Thatcher
>
>
> Thacher,
>
> Following from a quick Internet search.
> Lyle Boehland
>
>
>
> The Berliner Gram-o-phone Company of Canada
>
> Background & Berliner in the United States
> <http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/gramophone/m2-3005-e.html#cc>
> Berliner in Canada
> <http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/gramophone/m2-3005-e.html#dd>
>
>
> Background & Berliner in the United States
>
> When Emile Berliner first established the United States Gramophone
> Company in 1893, the recording industry was already eight years
> old; it had been a tumultuous beginning for the business, marked
> by a race to register patents, industrial espionage, and personal
> rivalries. The next six years would bring more conflict, and in
> the end would lead to Berliner's decision to give up control of
> his patents in the United States to his associate, Eldridge
> Johnson, and establish an independent company in Canada.
>
> Shortly after inventing the phonograph in 1877, Thomas Edison
> established the first business devoted to recorded sound, the
> Edison Speaking Phonograph Company. It had five stockholders
> including Gardiner G. Hubbard, Alexander Graham Bell's
> father-in-law. The company bought the tin-foil phonograph patent
> for $10 000 and a guarantee of 20% of future profits. After
> initial demonstrations of the new invention, like the one at
> Rideau Hall, however, the company went dormant and Edison turned
> his attention elsewhere.
>
> In 1886, the Bells and Tainter formed the American Graphophone Co.
> to manufacture and sell the graphophone. This prompted Edison to
> take up his interest in the phonograph in an attempt to reassert
> control over sound recording technology, and to reorganize his
> original corporation into the Edison Phonograph Co. in 1887. It
> was at this time that Edison adopted modifications of some of the
> Bell-Tainter innovations and created the Improved Phonograph which
> utilized solid wax cylinders and a sapphire-point stylus. It was
> this type of phonograph upon which the oldest surviving recording
> 1
> <http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/gramophone/m2-3005-e.html#aa>,
> a message of Lord Stanley
> <http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/m2/f3/nlc008357.ram>,
> Canada's Governor-General, to the people and president of the
> United States, was made.
>
> http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/m2/f1/xx004484-v6.jpg
> <http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/m2/f1/xx004484-v6.jpg>
> Source
> <http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/gramophone/m2-150-e.php?uid=m2-xx004484&uidc=recKey>
>
> Phonograph parlour at a ferry juncture with the Pennsylvania
> Railroad, 1891-92
>
> Though there had already been considerable competition between the
> two rivals, the Edison Phonograph Company and the American
> Graphophone Company both agreed to allow a wealthy businessman,
> Jesse Lippincott, to form the North American Phonograph Co. in
> 1888; this company would oversee a sales network of local
> companies licensed to lease phonographs and graphophones as
> dictation machines. Lippincott agreed to invest $200 000 in the
> American Graphophone company and to purchase 5000 machines a year.
> He bought control of Edison's patents for $500 000, and Edison set
> up Edison Phonograph Works to manufacture and develop the
> phonograph. Lippincott's enterprise soon failed, however, and in
> 1890, the North American Phonograph Company went bankrupt. Edison,
> as its major creditor, took over operation of the business. When
> it became apparent that he could not assert control over the local
> licensees, he reorganized the company and founded the National
> Phonograph Co. in 1896.
>
> Meanwhile, one of those regional companies, founded independently
> of the North American Phonograph Co. and thus immune from Edison's
> take-over, had become a leader in recording cylinders for
> coin-operated phonographs. This was the Columbia Phonograph Co.,
> and when the North American Phonograph Co. failed, Columbia became
> the sole licensed seller of graphophones in North America.
>
> While Edison was struggling with the bankrupt North American
> Phonograph Co. and Columbia was establishing itself as a major
> player, Berliner quietly stepped onto the field and complicated
> the quarrel. In 1893, he set up the United States Gramophone Co.
> to attract investors for the gramophone. He hired brothers Fred
> and Will Gaisberg, former employees of Columbia who had prior
> recording experience, and together they found a Philadelphia-based
> syndicate which agreed to contribute $25 000 to fund Berliner's
> enterprise. The Berliner Gram-o-phone Co. was established in
> Philadelphia to manufacture sound recording equipment and discs
> under licence from the United States Gramophone Co., which
> retained the gramophone patents. Berliner and the Gaisbergs then
> engaged the services of Frank Seaman to undertake advertising,
> distribution, and sales of the gramophone. To this end, Seaman
> formed a third company, the National Gramophone Co. Ultimately,
> the Berliner Gram-o-phone Company would be involved in a legal
> battle with Seaman and the Universal Talking Machine Co. (a
> company affiliated with the National Gramophone Co.), which would
> drive Emile Berliner out of the gramophone business in the United
> States.
>
>
> Berliner in Canada
>
> By 1898, the gramophone business was booming and officials at
> Columbia were becoming worried. Unwilling, or perhaps unable, to
> compete in the marketplace without an extra advantage, Columbia
> set its sights on Berliner's patents. A complex legal battle
> ensued, involving not only the American Graphophone Co./Columbia
> Phonograph Co. party and the Berliner Gram-o-phone Co., but also
> Edison Phonograph Works, F.M. Prescott (an exporter), and Frank
> Seaman. When hostilities were brought to a close, a court
> injunction remained preventing Berliner from using the word
> "gramophone" on any of his products in the United States. This
> prompted him to establish E. Berliner, Montreal in 1899 which
> would hold exclusive rights to gramophones and discs in Canada
> (based on a Canadian patent of 1897), and to sell the rights to
> his American patents to his associate Eldridge Johnson, who had
> first been contracted by Berliner and Gaisberg to develop an
> effective motor for the gramophone. In 1901, Johnson set up the
> Victor Talking Machine Co., taking over the Berliner interests in
> the United States. For the time being, relations between Victor
> and the international Berliner affiliates, including E. Berliner
> of Canada, remained cordial.
>
> http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/m2/f1/nlc004269-v6.jpg
> <http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/m2/f1/nlc004269-v6.jpg>
> Source
> <http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/gramophone/m2-150-e.php?uid=m2-nlc004269&uidc=recKey>
> http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/m2/f1/nlc004263-v6.jpg
> <http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/m2/f1/nlc004263-v6.jpg>
> Source
> <http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/gramophone/m2-150-e.php?uid=m2-nlc004263&uidc=recKey>
>
> The Berliner Gram-o-phone Company store at 2315-2316,
> Sainte-Catherine St., Montréal The main display room of the
> Berliner Gram-o-phone Company store, 1913
>
> According to Canadian law at the time, a patent was protected only
> if the manufacturer established production in Canada, and Berliner
> was happy to comply. He imported equipment from the American
> affiliate, set up shop in space rented from the Bell Telephone
> Co., and opened a retail outlet at 2315-2316 Sainte-Catherine
> Street in Montreal. The company began an intense promotion of the
> gramophone, highlighting the volume, endurance, and space-saving
> size of discs as opposed to cylinders. The advertisements also
> served to warn Berliner's competitors against infringement of the
> company's patents, and to caution consumers against purchasing
> imitation equipment and recordings. It was not long before E.
> Berliner, with Emmanuel Blout as general manager, was prospering.
>
> http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/m2/f1/nlc004261-v6.jpg
> <http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/m2/f1/nlc004261-v6.jpg>
> Source
> <http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/gramophone/m2-150-e.php?uid=m2-nlc004261&uidc=recKey>
> http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/m2/f1/nlc004271-v6.jpg
> <http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/m2/f1/nlc004271-v6.jpg>
> Source
> <http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/gramophone/m2-150-e.php?uid=m2-nlc004271&uidc=recKey>
>
> An advertisement for E. Berliner, Montreal, showing the newly
> trademarked HMV logo, 1900 An advertisement for E. Berliner,
> Montréal, 1901
>
>
> http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/m2/f1/nlc004274-v6.jpg
> <http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/m2/f1/nlc004274-v6.jpg>
> Source
> <http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/gramophone/m2-150-e.php?uid=m2-nlc004274&uidc=recKey>
>
> An advertisement for E. Berliner, Montréal, 1903
>
> It was decided to incorporate the business and, in 1904, the
> Berliner Gram-o-phone Company of Canada was given a charter with
> Emmanuel Blout, Joseph Sanders, Charles Gartshore, Robert Shaw and
> Herbert Samuel Berliner, Emile's son, as stockholders. Blout,
> Sanders and Herbert Berliner were named as directors of the new
> corporation. A recording studio was set up, and in 1906 a new
> factory was built at the corner of St. Antoine and Lenoir streets,
> one of the first reinforced concrete buildings in Montreal. In
> 1909, the company underwent a reorganization and was renamed the
> Berliner Gram-o-phone Company, with Emile Berliner assuming the
> presidency of the business, Herbert appointed vice-president and
> general manager, and Emile's younger son, Edgar, named
> secretary-treasurer. Blout returned to the United States.
>
> http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/m2/f1/nlc004283-v6.jpg
> <http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/m2/f1/nlc004283-v6.jpg>
> Source
> <http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/gramophone/m2-150-e.php?uid=m2-nlc004283&uidc=recKey>
> http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/m2/f1/nlc004265-v6.jpg
> <http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/m2/f1/nlc004265-v6.jpg>
> Source
> <http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/gramophone/m2-150-e.php?uid=m2-nlc004265&uidc=recKey>
>
> Herbert and Emile Berliner, circa 1915 An advertisement
> showing the Berliner Gram-o-phone Company factory and head office
> in Montreal, 1918
>
> Though both Columbia and Edison had entered the Canadian market by
> this time, and the industry would soon open up to independent
> companies as the original patents ran out, Berliner was clearly
> the front runner in the Canadian recording business. Apart from
> questions of convenience or quality, the Berliner company's status
> might be attributed to its almost ruthless conduct towards its
> dealers. For many years Berliner required its retailers to sell
> only Berliner products and to sell them at company-set prices.
> Though there was considerable resistance to this policy on the
> part of the record dealers, and in an editorial in the /Canadian
> Music Trades Journal/ (November, 1914), for which the company
> filed a lawsuit and won, Berliner refused to relax its policy.
>
> http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/m2/f1/nlc004267-v6.jpg
> <http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/m2/f1/nlc004267-v6.jpg>
> Source
> <http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/gramophone/m2-150-e.php?uid=m2-nlc004267&uidc=recKey>
> http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/m2/f1/nlc004266-v6.jpg
> <http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/m2/f1/nlc004266-v6.jpg>
> Source
> <http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/gramophone/m2-150-e.php?uid=m2-nlc004266&uidc=recKey>
>
> The editorial, denouncing the policies of the Berliner
> Gram-o-phone Company, that was published in the /Canadian Music
> Trades Journal/, 1914. Berliner sued for libel and won. The
> company waived damages and the Journal made an unsolicited
> apology Apology from John A. Fullerton, the editor of the
> /Canadian Music Trades Journal/ to the Berliner Gram-o-phone
> Company; published in the journal in November 1915
>
> Concurrent with a surge of record sales during and just after
> World War I, Herbert Berliner decided to reduce the number of
> recordings Berliner imported from the States, in order to decrease
> its expenditure on royalties to Victor. In 1916, Herbert, through
> a subsidiary company, His Master's Voice, introduced the 216000
> series, devoted to Canadian recordings. Later, an exclusively
> French-Canadian series was initiated in the HMV 263000 series. By
> 1920, the majority of the Berliner Gram-o-phone Company's records
> was recorded and pressed in Canada. Victor was vexed by this
> situation and asserted what must have been considerable pressure
> to displace Herbert Berliner from his position of control. How it
> was achieved will remain a mystery but, in 1921, Herbert Berliner
> resigned from the Berliner Gram-o-phone Company and departed for
> the Compo Company in Lachine, Quebec, which he had established
> independently in 1918 to manufacture records for other recording
> labels. His younger brother Edgar undertook the presidency and
> management of Berliner; the HMV series was phased out and replaced
> with Victor recordings. In 1924, Victor acquired controlling
> interest in the Berliner Gram-o-phone Company, changing its name
> to the Victor Talking Machine Company of Canada. Edgar remained
> president but the other directors were also active directors of
> the American company.
>
> http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/m2/f1/nlc006573-v6.jpg
> <http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/m2/f1/nlc006573-v6.jpg>
> Source
> <http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/gramophone/m2-150-e.php?uid=m2-nlc006573&uidc=recKey>
> http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/m2/f1/nlc004286-v6.jpg
> <http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/m2/f1/nlc004286-v6.jpg>
> Source
> <http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/gramophone/m2-150-e.php?uid=m2-nlc004286&uidc=recKey>
>
> Advertisment for The Compo Company's new record pressing plant in
> Lachine, Quebec, /Canadian Music Trades Journal/, October 1919
> Edgar Berliner, circa 1921
>
> Even the formidable Victor Co. could not stand against the
> increasing predominance of radio in the sound recording business
> and, in 1929, RCA (Radio Corporation of America) merged with
> Victor, including the Victor Talking Machine of Canada, to create
> RCA Victor. Emile Berliner died the same year, at the age of 78,
> and the following year Edgar Berliner resigned from the presidency
> of Victor of Canada, severing the family's last tie to the
> company, and effectively ending the first era of recorded sound in
> Canada.
>
> 1
> <http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/gramophone/m2-3005-e.html#bb>
> The whereabouts of the original cylinder, made on September 11,
> 1888, are unknown, but a re-recording was made in 1935.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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--
Thatcher Graham
Senior Field Engineer
ph. 610-578-0800 x214
cell: 484-354-6918
fx. 610-578-0804
Mediaguide
640 Freedom Business Ctr. STE 305
King of Prussia, PA 19406
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