The international HMV?

[snallast]

Bought this one a couple of months ago. It is SMALL - everything is like a third smaller than an "ordinary" machine - soundbox, arm, horn etc. Now looking it over - it looks like all the pieces fit together, but inside the box it´s stamped in german, the soundbox is from the US, and the arm is stamped "Gramophone Co Ltd" (England). It does not seem to have been renovated in any way.

What do you think? Is this a recent put-together or could it have been assembled like this in it´s day? And when do you think that might have been? Also i wonder why would they make a gramophone so small?

Hakan

[Starkton]

It looks authentic to me and in very good condition also. As it falls in a gap of my Deutsche Grammophon A.G. catalogues I can only estimate a manufacturing date between 1909 and 1911.

[fonografica]

Similar machines were also made in Spain by the Gramophone Company using imported hardware and local
cases. Some of these machines had extremely sophisticated cases as the one pictured. regards

[snallast]

Thanks for your thoughts! So maybe it was assembled/made in Germany then? Seems probable!

I used to have one just like the spanish one on the picture except for a different colour horn, and a round decal in the front of it. It was a pretty bad idea to let go of that one... certainly one of the best and most beautiful machines in that category I´ve seen.

The size of this german gramophone still puzzles me - a size I never saw before - , but maybe people living in smaller houses wanted smaller machines?

[fonografica]

I have seen also a small HMV made for the French market. So I should think the Gramophone Company would make different sizes to suit specific markets.
The Spanish HMV you had was like the one on the pic? This one has been offered to me by a local seller.

[US PHONO]

It is SMALL - everything is like a third smaller than an "ordinary" machine - soundbox, arm, horn etc.

I think it depends on your terms of reference? Assuming that the turntable is 10 inches, surely this machine is the same size as say a Victor III ?

[snallast]

Well :Fonografica that´s interesting! If you don´t go for it I would definitely be interested!! (I´m in Spain outside Sevilla) It´s a wonderful machine! I´ve seen a couple here in Spain - but when I´ve seen them I haven´t had the money and vise versa... I always wanted one like that again...

US PHONO: no I don´t think it would be the same size at all as the Victor III (it´s tiny), don´t know about inches - here in Spain we do cm - but I can say that the turntable is smaller than an ordinary 78 record. It was real stupid of me not to put an object in the picture that would give an idea of relative size - like a matchbox - or a 78 record or something. The thing is: the machine is in Sweden now and I´m in Spain so I can´t measure it until August.

[US PHONO]

US PHONO: no I don´t think it would be the same size at all as the Victor III (it´s tiny), don´t know about inches

I checked. The base is about the same dimensions as a Vic III. the top though is about 15mm (1.5cm) larger than a Vic III.

[snallast]

Ok...but how can you check the measurements - when not even I myself can do it - due to the fact that the machine currently is in Sweden and I´m in Spain? You can check the Victor - but this gramophone (which I have no model name for, or number) - how would you know it´s size?

[US PHONO]

Ok...but how can you check the measurements - when not even I myself can do it - due to the fact that the machine currently is in Sweden and I´m in Spain?

Just let me say it was difficult.....(and of course had nothing to do with B & E in Sweden!)

You know the theory of how to determine the height of a building without a tape measure, for example by using a barometer.

Like you tie a string to the barometer then lower the barometer from the roof of the skyscraper to the ground. The length of the string plus the length of the barometer will equal the height of the building

Or you take the barometer up to the roof of the skyscraper, drop it over the edge, and measure the time it takes to reach the ground. The height of the building can then be worked out from the formula H = 0.5g x t squared. But bad luck for the barometer.

then there's a way to measure the air pressure on the roof of the skyscraper and on the ground, and convert the difference in millibars into feet to give the height of the building."

Or of course find the janitor and say to him 'If you would like a nice new barometer, I will give you this one if you tell me the height of this skyscraper'.

Anyway, above not relevant, I went for the more direct approach