Does anyone know anything about this machine?

[GrafonolaG50]

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I got my first antique phonograph this Christmas, it is a Columbia portable, but there is a smaller marking that says G50. Can anyone tell me anything about this machine? Here are some photos. What time period was it made in? Where can I find more info? It plays great, the motor is quiet, and the sound quality is nice

[mf77]

It appears to be a British machine from after the EMI merger of 1931.
If you remove the turntable, there may be a cream coloured ID tag with the model number, serial number, and if made after 1936, there may also be a date code.
It's a model I'm not familiar with, but it appears to be a cross between the HM0V models 97 & 88. My uneducated guess is that it was made around 1932-34.
Perhaps one of our British members can be more helpful than I.

[soundgen]

What a great item , I have never seen one , the front wind is unusual for a Columbia machine of this age

[epigramophone]

Columbia produced a number of "overseas" models in the 1930's, and I think that this is what we have here. I too have never seen this model before.

I own a 208G and a 220, neither of which were catalogued in the UK.

Very little is known about these overseas Columbias, not even where they were made. After the EMI merger of 1931, HMV saw themselves as the dominant partner and carefully preserved their archives, enabling present day collectors to write reference books on HMV machines.

Unfortunately the same care was not taken with Columbia. So much valuable data has been lost that the source material for a book on UK Columbia no longer exists.

[soundgen]

It's quite amazing that your first gramophone should be so rare , there probably is an HMV version somewhere and also an Odeon as they were also " badge " engineered from the same stable , the Columbia magic notes logo is either missing from the soundbox or was never there . I think these machines were all made at Hayes but may be wrong

[soundgen]

Any chance you could take it to bits ? and take and post a picture of the motor and also see if there is a plaque under the turntable ?

[GrafonolaG50]

Thanks for the information. I'm amazed that my first machine might be so rare. Also it was bought from Illinois. Anymore info is still welcome, and again, thanks

[zenith82]

I wanted to add that the covering on the cabinet is in remarkable condition for an early 1930s portable. Usually the portables you find today have fabric with soiling, scrapes, and tears. Whoever had this took very good care of it.

[soundgen]

I wanted to add that the covering on the cabinet is in remarkable condition for an early 1930s portable. Usually the portables you find today have fabric with soiling, scrapes, and tears. Whoever had this took very good care of it.

Portable wind up gramophones were sold in the UK for a long time , the HMV 102 first made in 1930 ? was still available to buy in 1962 ! Many moons ago we met a guy who left University and joined HMV in 1962 his new job selling wind up gramophones ! He did it for six months and was told to sell all remaining machines as a job lot but they had to be sold to someone who would export them to sell outside tye UK , They ended up with an East end trader who shipped them to Africa !

[zenith82]

I wanted to add that the covering on the cabinet is in remarkable condition for an early 1930s portable. Usually the portables you find today have fabric with soiling, scrapes, and tears. Whoever had this took very good care of it.

Portable wind up gramophones were sold in the UK for a long time , the HMV 102 first made in 1930 ? was still available to buy in 1962 ! Many moons ago we met a guy who left University and joined HMV in 1962 his new job selling wind up gramophones ! He did it for six months and was told to sell all remaining machines as a job lot but they had to be sold to someone who would export them to sell outside tye UK , They ended up with an East end trader who shipped them to Africa !

I knew that portable wind-ups were sold across Europe and Asia well into the 1960s, but did not know the same model was manufactured for 30 years! The logo inside the lid on this one reminds me of the logo on US made Columbia machines of the late '20s. I wonder if the 1962 lot you spoke of are the ones whose motors ended up going into the earliest "crap-o-phones" of the '70s and '80s. Seems that I remember reading somewhere that a lot of late manufacture portables from Europe were cannibalized to make the now notorious replicas that you see at every flea market.