Columbia, index/list of USA/UK/DE/Japan made portables

[epigramophone]

Welcome to the forum Paul. I am sure you will find it rewarding, especially while we are all stuck at home.
I cannot remember taking a picture of the "fat tonearm 10a" while I still owned it, so it would be nice to see it again.
The 220 seems to have been sold in the far East. Mine (since sold) came with a record case bearing shipping labels and customs seals from that part of the world. Here it is with my 113a, which I still have.

[nostalgia]

Welcome aboard Gramophile:) I am happy Roger (epigramophone), who is one of our experts in here, already have replied to your offer, we also for sure look forward to see your Columbia 10A.
I spent myself the day restoring a HMV 103 that came into my life a few days back, and when I finally left the garageroom, I discovered I had been there a total
of 9 hours, with only a small lunch break that I also had in the garage. Time is running when one is busy with gramophones, and what can be better in these days,
when we all have to stay away from social life.
You will also find more photos of the Japanese Columbias (including the Model 220) in the thread given below, that I opened last week. Even if the list is far from complete and also far from correct ( since it is hard to determine what floor models that were made in Japan or not) the list of portables and tabletops are pretty accurate (but far from complete), and when errors are observed by me and other fellow forum members, I/we try my/our best to update the thread to make it as correct as possible: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=44519
In the next few minutes, a list of Japan made portables (only) will be added to this thread, and also the subject line will be changed to better suit the content of the thread.

[nostalgia]

In my ongoing "mad collector" work I am trying to put up a list of UK made Columbia portables (Completed April 5th, 2020), as a first step of also integrating also Columbia US/Japan made portables (only)into the same list. This idea also comes as a result of constantly trying to teach my brain ways to remember the different UK made Columbia portables after reading differenc threads on the forum, and a simple good old fashioned list, may be a good solution, hopefully also for present/future Columbia collectors.
I would like to try to make it a "read only" list this time, no photos, so it can be used as a quick reference for the future. I will also add and delete information over time, as you guys/gals are able to help me correct the list.
Please help me correct the mistakes in the current US list. You can pm me, or write corrections/suggestions as replies to this message, I will then add the updated list both at the start and at the bottom of the thread (since readers often most often visit the end of a long thread), so the newest and most correct list always is appearing to all viewers.
I have after being adviced chosen to incorporate Model name/number, year of launch, country of manufacture, soundbox number, and known available colors to the list.

This is the list as of today, April 5th, 2020. The new US list is added with a blue font color, to separate it from the UK list. I am still working on the big challenge, the Japanese Columbia portable list, and it will also be uploaded soon.

Thank you to epigramophone (Roger), Phono48 (Barry), Oedipus, and Gramophoneshane for advice,corrections and additions to the UK list, without you this list would not have seen the light of day!




Columbia Portable Gramophones manufactured in The United Kingdom, launch year 1924-1946:


Columbia Grafonola Model 10, 1924 (UK), Soundbox No.7, Color: Black

Columbia Grafonola Model 10A, 1925 (UK), Soundbox No.7, Color: Black

Columbia Model 100, 1929-32 (UK), Soundbox No.15B, Colors: Leathercloth: blue, black, red + "Crackle”finish: green, red, blue, brown

Columbia Viva Tonal Portable Junior Model 109, 1927 (UK), Soundbox No.8, Colors: Black

Columbia Viva Tonal Portable Junior Model 109A, 1929 (UK), Soundbox No.9, Colors: Black

Columbia Grafonola Model 110, 1926 (UK), Soundbox No.8, Colors: Black

Columbia Viva Tonal Portable Model 111A N, 1929 (UK), Soundbox No.9, Colors: Brown leather

Columbia Viva Tonal Portable Model 111A GP, 1929 (UK), Soundbox No.9, Colors: Brown leather

Columbia Viva Tonal Portable Model 112 , 1927 (UK), Soundbox No.8, Colors: Black

Columbia Viva Tonal Portable Model 112A , 1929 (UK), Soundbox No.9, Colors: Black + blue, brown red (all crocodile), (green has been seen)

Columbia Viva Tonal Portable Model 113 , 1928 (UK), Soundbox No.15 (Floating Soundbox), Colors: Black

Columbia Viva Tonal Portable Model 113A , 1929 (UK), Soundbox No.15 (Floating Soundbox), Colors: Blue crocodile

Columbia Viva Tonal Portable Model 201, 1930 (UK), Soundbox No.15A, Colors: Black blue, red

Columbia Viva Tonal Portable Model 202, 1930 (UK), Soundbox No.15A, Colors: Black, blue, red, brown

Columbia Viva Tonal Portable Model 204, 1933 (UK), Soundbox No.15a (Sometimes No. 24 in wartime) Colors: Black, green, blue, red

Columbia Viva Tonal Portable Model 205,1933 (UK), Soundbox No.24, Colors: Black, red

Columbia Viva Tonal Portable Model 206, 1938 (UK), Soundbox No.28/5C, Colors: Black, blue

Columbia Viva Tonal Portable Model 211, 1939 (UK), Soundbox No.24, Colors: Black, blue

Columbia 9000, 1946 (UK), Soundbox No.28, Colors: Black, blue, red, green



Columbia Portable Gramophones/Phonographs manufactured in The United States, launch year 1922-1929


Columbia Portable Grafonola,1922 (USA) Colors: Black

Columbia Harmony Portable Junior, 1928 (USA) Colors: Red, black, brown

Columbia Harmony Portable No.2, 1928 (USA) Colors:?

Columbia Portable Model 118, 1929 (USA) Colors: Black

Columbia Viva Tonal Portable Model 120, 1928 (USA) Colors: Dark brown, black

Columbia Viva Tonal Portable Model 125, 1929 (USA) Colors: Brown, black

Columbia Viva Tonal Portable Model 130, 1928 (USA) Colors: Blue(?), red(?)

New Columbia Portable, Model 140, 1924 (USA) Colors: Black

New Columbia Portable, Model 150, 1926 (USA) Colors:Black

New Columbia Portable, Model 160, 1928 (USA) Colors: Black

Columbia Viva Tonal Portable, Model 161, 1927 (USA) Colors: Gray alligator

Columbia Viva Tonal Portable, Model 162, 1928 (USA) Colors: Black alligator

Columbia Viva Tonal Portable, Model 163, 1929 (USA) Colors: ?

Columbia Viva Tonal Portable, Model 175 (electric motor), 1929 (USA) Colors: Light brown



Columbia Portable Gramophones manufactured in Gemany, launch year 1935:

Columbia Model 208, 1935 (DE), Soundbox No 5B, Colors: Black, blue, red



A few words about the last list. It has proven itself to be an enormous task to try sort out the different portable models manufactured under the Columbia trademark in Japan. It has also turned out to be far more difficult than I would ever have imagined in advance, because some of the Japan Columbia portables has been given the same Model number has some UK Columbia portables, but still look very different from the numerical identical UK model, and first, last and always... It is almost unbelieveable ( to use a mild word) to see the numbers of different portable models manufactured under the Columbia trademark in Japan during the acoustic period of portable gramophones, and when looking deeper into the list, one will quickly also understand that the list at the time of writing this, is far from complete.
The missing numbers speak for themselves, but I have chosen only to index portables that I have seen on photo, photo(s) that also will be included in this thread: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=44519, as we move along.

Please don’t hesitate to write comments or pm me if you have a Japanese Columbia portable that is not listed in this index, (or have viewpoints) I will then index it, and please also upload photos of the same gramophone to the thread given above, or pm me the photo, and I will upload the photo myself to the same thread. To avoid losing control of the thread completely, I will not index Columbia portables if there is no evidence proving it’s existence, it means,,a photo showing its Model number and look.

The list will also be improved and extended in the upcoming days, since I already have some model numbers I not yet had the time to integrate into the list. I try to index new model numbers, and at the same time upload photos of the model to the general thread ” The long awaited list of Japanense Columbia gramophones”;( the link given above here in this post), again to try keeping some control of the list.
Welcome to the “show”, and here we go...


Columbia Portable Gramophones/Phonographs manufactured in Japan, launch year 1931-1960 (approximately):


Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonola Model 9, (JP), Color Black

Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonola Model 21,(JP), Color. Black

Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonolal Model 26, (JP), Color Black/Grey

Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonola Model 55, (JP), Color: Black

Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonola Model 56, (JP), Soundbox No. 20, Color: Black, blue

Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonola. Model 110, (JP), Colors: Black

Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonola Model 113A, (JP), Color: Black

Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonola Model 118A ,(JP), Color: Black

Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonola Model 164, (JP), Colors: Brown

Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonola Model 200, (JP), Colors: Brown, black

Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonola Model 201, (JP),Colors: Blue/black

Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonola Model 202, (JP), Colors: Black, grey

Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonola Model 203, (JP), Colors: Blue

Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonola Model 204, (JP), Colors: Brown, grey

Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonola Model 205, (JP), Colors/Green/Light brownish

ColumbiaViva Tonal Grafonola Model 206, (JP), Colors. Black/brownish

Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonola Model 207, (JP), Colors: Black

Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonola Model 210, 1933 (JP) Colors: Light brown

Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonola Model 211, (JP), Colors: Black/brownish, green camouflage

Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonola Model 212, (JP), Color: Black

Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonola Model 213, (JP), Color: Grey

Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonola Model 214, (JP), Color: Brown

ColumbiaViva Tonal Grafonola Model 220, (JP), Colors: Brown, blue

Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonola Model 221, (JP), Color: Grey/brownish

Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonola Model 222 ,(JP), Color: Grey/brownish

Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonola Model 230, (JP), Color: Grey

Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonola Model 250, (JP), Color: Brown

Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonola Model 280A, (JP), Color: Grey



Post WW2 Models ( 1945-) ( Starting with the prefix: G-)


Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonola Model G-40, (JP), Colors: Gray

Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonola Model: G-41, (JP), Color Gray

Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonola Model: G-45, (JP), Color: Beige/gray

Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonola Model G-46, (JP), Color: Gray camouflage

Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonola Model G-48, (JP), Color: Brown

Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonola Model G-50 (JP), Colors: Yellow camouflage, green

Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonola Model G-51, (JP), Color: Lilac

Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonola Model G-53, (JP), Color: Light grey

ColumbiaViva Tonal Grafonola Model G-55, (JP), Color: Black

Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonola Model G-56, (JP), Color: Black

Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonola Model G-65, (JP), Color: Red

Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonola Model G-70, (JP), Color: Black/dark blue

Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonola Model G-80, (JP), Color: Blue

Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonola Model G-120, (JP),Color: Grey camouflage

Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonola Model G-207, (JP), Color: Brownish

Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonola Model G-208, (JP), Colors: Red, green camouflage, brown

Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonola Model G-209, (JP), Colors: Gray/mint, green camouflage

Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonol Model G-241 ( 2 springs), 1951 (JP), Colors: Red ( leatherette motorboard)

Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonola G-241A ( 2 springs) 1951 (JP), Colors: Red (wooden motorboard)

Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonola Model G-250, (JP), Color: Red

Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonola Model G-260, (JP), Color: Black, yellow

Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonola Model G-270, (JP), Color: Gray camouflage

Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonola Model G-271, (JP), Color: Gray

Columbia Viva Tonal Grafonola Model P-501, (JP), Colors: Whitish


Updated: April 13th, 2020

...Can you imagine, this totals around 100 Columbia portables, so far...
AND, if any of you guys/gals have the complete set of Columbia portables, I would like to speak to you.

[Gramophile]

Here's the picture of my Columbia 10a with the FAT tone-arm. (Early model? late model?).
Hope you can straighten it - I don't know how).
Regards,
Gramophile.

Columbia 10a.

[Lucius1958]

Here's the picture of my Columbia 10a with the FAT tone-arm. (Early model? late model?).
Hope you can straighten it - I don't know how).
Regards,
Gramophile.

Columbia 10a (fat tone-arm)..JPG

Judging from the tone arm, that would be an earlier, pre-"Viva-Tonal" model.

- Bill

[nostalgia]

Gramophile, thank you for uploading the photo of your Columbia 10A with the "fat arm". I have myself never seen this gramophone before on photo, and after reading the posts of "epigramophone", "phono48" and "oedipus" earlier in this thread, I can unfortunately not add anything more to their comments about this model. If they are able to provide more information I am sure they ( or others reading this) will add it here though. From their earlier posts on pre 1931 portable models from Columbia (before the merge with HMV) I understand that this period is very much a "black hole" in gramophone history, and little information has survived from this period of the UK Columbia gramophone production, as far as I understand it.
What I have learned about the Columbia gramophones made in the UK, I have learned from our foremost experts on the forum, and both epigramophone, phono48, and oedipus who have added comments to this thread about the different UK Columbia portable models, are among the best experts on acoustic gramophones in the UK.
Thank you for uploading the photo, it is much appreciated and it belong in this thread for sure, where we try to reveal the mysteries of Columbia portables made both in the UK/USA and Japan:)

[epigramophone]

I purchased the "fat" tonearm 10a at a local flea market some years ago and later sold it to my friend Paul (Gramophile) who shares my interest in all things Columbia. The later thinner tonearm version is more frequently seen and I assume, but cannot prove, that it is later.

[nostalgia]

Well, after looking back on the posts in this thread, I can only now see that there is one question unanswered at the time being related to photos uploaded, and that is the Model 110 photo that is uploaded to page 1 in the thread. I don't know if anyone is able to verify if this is the UK made Model 110 or not, or if it is (again) another Japan made Columbia portable using the identical model number from a UK made model?
If no one is able to decide at this time, I will just leave the photo in the post, and hope that someone in the future is able to upload a verified photo of the UK Columbia 110, so we can see if it is the same model 110 as pictured on page 1 in the thread.

[edisonplayer]

I remember my late friend Arthur Pare telling me he once had a Columbia portable.It would've been the one introduced in 1922.edisonplayer

[Gramophile]

Re the "fat" 10a. (Note to Lucius - it's certainly pre-"Viva-Tonal" - which was Columbia's slogan for electric recording).
(Note to Nostalgia - sadly there is very little official Columbia documentation left. When EMI took them over in 1931, they sacked most of the staff, shut most of the factories, depots, showrooms etc., and destroyed most of the documents {out of spite from their HMV rivals, probably!}. One useful exception, however, was that EMI kept the ex-Columbia pressing plant in Australia, shutting the ex-HMV one. Which means that Australian HMV, Regal-Zonophone etc. 78s from 1931 to 1939 have the wonderful smooth Columbia laminated surfaces.