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Living in the UK, we don't tend to see many of the French or German versions of HMV portables but I have recently acquired this blue German Polyfar. I had always assumed they were basically HMV machines but with a different label but I now find it is the other way round ! There is not one feature of this portable which it shares in common with an HMV portable. The case is a different size, the tone arm comes form the left of the horn, the soundbox is different, the motor is different, there is a removable record storage device in the lid, the handle is different, the corners are different etc etc. It is in effect, a Polydor portable with an HMV badge. Why did HMV put their name to another manufacturer's machine in this way ? Were they not allowed to sell HMV machines in Germany ? Did they own Polydor or was it some sort of licensing deal ? I would be interested to learn the story behind these machines .... Any idea of the date of this one ?

Thanks

That is a very fine portable. I only wish that I could tell you more about it.

In 1916 the German Government ordered the liquidation of The Gramophone Company's assets in Germany, including the HMV trade mark, as enemy property. The shares were sold by public tender to Polyphon. It was not until 1931 that The Gramophone Company recovered the use of the HMV trade mark in Germany.

The Polyfar name appeared on some Polydor records and covers from about 1927. The British agency for these records was held by Keith, Prowse & Co Ltd, who claimed to hold the finest stock of foreign records in the UK.

Thanks for the information - if they resumed using "HMV" in 1931 and I guess withdrew from the German market by 1938/9 it narrows down the date to a few years. Not sure why it is still shown as a "Polyfar" with an HMV logo, I would gave thought it was either a Polyfar or an HMV ....

I don't know if I'm right or I would add to the confussion instead... But I believe Polydor/Polyfar were created as the export marks of Deutsche Grammophon A.G. (the germanized old assets of Gramophone Co. in Germany). So the Polydor records were sold outside Germany, being counterparts of corresponding Grammophon issues inside Germany. The matrix nos. etc match the german DGs. But Polydor had a great success, so they established branches across Europe, the most durable one I believe may be the French branch. In Spain they also had a branch, but survived only a few years (1927-1933 or so). They sold nationalised versions of the german DG recordings, but also recorded their own material in the host countries, and thanks to their 1927 agreement with US Brunswick, they also pressed US Brunswicks in Europe, under the Brunswick label. They were good recordings, I suppose benefitting from the DG technology which was very good. The shellac material is also very good (at least the spanish records are remarkably silent, solid, etc). I don't yet know how the Polyfar mark was used; you've shown herein an example of a Polyfar machine... but spanish machines were also labelled Polydor. THe portables I bet are well done and have a very good sound, probably as good as the HMV102s.
And here commes my guessing work, not founded in any evidence... except the extense advertising inside Germany of the Polydor/Polyfar brands. Created as an export mark, it also sold well inside Germany, as a side line to the more serious (or maybe more expensive) Grammophon brand. And it was a serious competitor to Electrola, as today you can find many more examples of Polydor machines than Electrolas. But the records? What? I own a hundred german sleeves from 1927-1931 for 12" Grammophon records, which advert the Grammophon, Polydor/Polyfar and Brunswick brands. Inside germany, records were branded Grammophon; I believe the Polydor records were not sold inside Germany, but I can be wrong. Outside were labelled Polydor. Polyfar is your machine, but I've also seen Polydor-branded portables for sale in Germany, as well as across Europe. Polydor had a store in Madrid which sold the records and machines. Other record stores in Madrid also sold the Polydor records, so good, german-pressed with foreign labels, or probably Barcelona pressed from our factory. But they are undistinguishable, so our spanish Polydor factory could be: 1) not pressing records, but importing pressings from germany, or 2) pressing records but under strict quality control by the germans, so the quality of records and pressings was the very same as the german Grammophon records. Suddenly in 1933 or so they disappeared from the market. A great loss, I believe.
So I think your machine is one of these Polydor/Polyfar machines made in germany but for sale inside Germany, and this could explain why it carries the Nipper badge; it was a DG asset inside Germany. Outside probably you coud find the same machine but without the Nipper logo, but the well known Polydor logo (a mimick of a puppet man with two horns emerging from his mouth at either side, very 1929-déco stylish... https://russian-records.com/data/sample ... Green).jpg

Congratulations on finding this Polyfar portable:) I think they are hard to find, and your machine looks very good too.
I have tried to dig into Google, to acquire some information for you, and found this link on the German forum, here translated into English:
https://translate.google.com/translate? ... .php?24825
You will see your machine on an old advertising leaflet on the same page, naming it Polyfar Raumton Type 1, with manufacturing year from 1928.

Its more luxurious brother, is pictured in detail on the same page.

Taking into consideration that Deutcshe Grammophon AG at this time had free access to the Nipper logo, they knew of course the logo was selling welll, and also obviously looking to the UK and the HMV 101 for design. The Polydor 125 motor most probably is found in your machine, and there are also traits that reminds me of Polyphon portables that I have in my storage room, and that is also not strange since Polyphon Werke owned the Deutsche Grammophon after WW1, before merging in 1932.

I also found information in German language online that the nipper logo was used until 1949 in Germany, when Electrola/Emi by a signed agreement took over the Nipper logo.

I found a photo of a Polyfar needle tin, where we can see they are using the old DGAG logo, and I also found a photo of a Polyfar record cover.
I also upload photos of a later model, Polyfar Raumton Model 7, and we all see where the "inspiration" comes from, date of this machine is said to be 1935

Here's my green Polyfar, which is the same as the one on the record cover.

Barry

That's great Barry. This is like creating a big jigsaw, piece by piece...one get a clearer and bigger picture also of these German portables.

Isn't the OP's blue machine the Type 2 at RM. 100,- shown in the advertisement on the German forum, in the picture below from radiomuseum.org?

I think Barry's is the Type 1, which appears to be basically the same as the Model 7 except for its additional corner needle container, wooden motorboard, different carry handle and mica soundbox.

Shane, you are of course right about Gramtastic's machine, he has the machine at the bottom of the ad, the type 2, the most expensive one. And also Barry's machine can be Type 1. I again need my glasses;)