Early HMV "Portables"

[Gramtastic]

Hi, I have recently acquired an HMV PAO which the text books refer to as HMV's first portable. I also have the attached leaflet showing that probably at least 10 years earlier they were promoting 4 machines as "Portables". I guess what we really mean is that the PAO is the first machine designed to be carried around without putting it into a case ? I think you would have had to have been quite strong to carry around any of the four shown (but I suppose you perhaps left that to the Chauffeur or Valet ?). It seems to have taken them a long time to move from these table model "portables" to the PAO - any ideas why ?

[CarlosV]

I think the main reason the PAO is called the first portable is because it has a handle on the side and its internal parts remain more or less in place once the lid is locked and the machine is turned on its side. The tabletops advertised as portables in your nice leaflet were not really designed to be so, they had to be somewhat disassembled - at least the arm would have to be removed on the hornless machine - and stuck on an external carrying case.

Even the PAO and its successor with the black rexine covering (I have that model) with the lowering plinth were very heavy and clumsy to deserve to be called portables, unless the owner is wealthy as you mention and butlers and footmen do the carrying work. The first real portable made by HMV was the 101.

Thanks for posting the photos, the leaflet is probably rarer than the PAO itself!

[epigramophone]

In the UK the first true portable to sell in large numbers was the Decca of 1914. It needed no assembly before use and it's bowl-in-lid sound reflector produced enough volume for outdoor use. Arriving just in time for WW1, it became a favourite of British soldiers serving on the Western Front and is popularly known to collectors as the "Trench" model, even though most surviving examples date from after 1918.

The Decca remained the market leading portable until the introduction of the HMV Model 101 in 1925. At £15 in 1920 the HMV PAO was never going to conquer the mass market when Decca prices ranged from £5.10s to £10.10s. The £10.10s Decca offered a choice of case between Solid Cowhide and Brass Bound Teak!

[Curt A]

Just curious if anyone has seen a Decca trench model survivor from WWI with battle damage - bullet holes, etc.?

[epigramophone]

Just curious if anyone has seen a Decca trench model survivor from WWI with battle damage - bullet holes, etc.?

This one belongs to the Imperial War Museum, and was found in the accompanying ammunition box which has been adapted to house it together with a quantity of records. This is a genuine WW1 example, but damage can be faked and provenance is essential if you are looking to buy one.

[Marco Gilardetti]

Indeed the Decca "trench" is a cute little portable. I remeber that at my commemoration "The Sound of the Great War" most people asked me details about the "trench", although I carried with me a definitely more impressive Monarch II.

While preparing the commemoration I digged the web and found some interesting commercials by Decca, not necessarily strictly related to WWII, in which the "trench" was repeatedly proposed as a "military" gramophone. I don't reacall where I've found the images, so possibly they were already seen here or even come from members of this forum (to whom I beg pardon for re-posting them).

The last image is the famous xilography Le Gramophone by Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), which in my opinion clearly depicts a stylized Decca "trench" in a wartime scenario. Pathé also produced very similar reflex-horn protable models, but I believe that their use during WWI is undocumented, or at least I could never read anything about this specific matter.

[poodling around]

In the UK the first true portable to sell in large numbers was the Decca of 1914. It needed no assembly before use and it's bowl-in-lid sound reflector produced enough volume for outdoor use. Arriving just in time for WW1, it became a favourite of British soldiers serving on the Western Front and is popularly known to collectors as the "Trench" model, even though most surviving examples date from after 1918.

The Decca remained the market leading portable until the introduction of the HMV Model 101 in 1925. At £15 in 1920 the HMV PAO was never going to conquer the mass market when Decca prices ranged from £5.10s to £10.10s. The £10.10s Decca offered a choice of case between Solid Cowhide and Brass Bound Teak!

Is the gramophone shown here a model which was actually sold and (potentially) used by troops during World War One I wonder ?

[Phono48]

The first real portable made by HMV was the 101.

With respect, Carlos, it wasn't. The first was the 100, introduced in June 1924.

Barry

[Dangermouse]

The first real portable made by HMV was the 101.

With respect, Carlos, it wasn't. The first was the 100, introduced in June 1924.

Barry

Yes I was going to point that out, as I have one. they predate the 101 and have for HMV a very unique reflective sound system.

[Sidewinder]

My understanding is that the "TRENCH" model was not a bowl in lid reflector type machine, but originally as in the attached picture