The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

A little update on the tin sign. I very carefully removed it from the frame. For the record....the lithograph is not marked with a makers name.
Now, you would think a manufacturer would have been very proud to name their work..... .

Maybe Victor did not want that..??.

That sign is great. I'm wondering if you did some searching in some of the old Music Trades or similar publications of the time directed at dealers and jobbers (was Voice of the Victor around in 1904?), you might find something about how a dealer could order such a thing. I know later in the Talking Machine World you see ads like this for companies that offered such display items, signs, specialty sleeves, etc. It may be a long shot, but I've been surprised by some things I've found from casual browsing.

Sean

That's a fantastic find, Wayne. The colors are beautiful and details are striking. Yes, it's a keeper. A sign such as yours is found on page 2-56 of Nipper Collectibles Vol. I and also in the latest Nipper Collectibles Vol. III in the section "The Best Nipper Advertising."
Congratulations on capturing one of the 10 best advertising pieces!

Rob & Joan

Thank You so much Sean, Joan & Rob. I assumed the approximate date at 1904 because I thought I had read this in one of the Rolfs books or, I may have seen it in a period photo that also showed machines for sale of that early period.
Of course, it may have been offered for a number of years. I could also be very wrong... .

Maybe Joan & Rob can shed some light as to the approximate time frame.


I also own the large indoor/outdoor canvas banner (also seen in the Rolfs book) that can be seen in very early period photos. I assume also from the same early period based on machines displayed.

gramophone78 wrote:Thank You so much Sean, Joan & Rob. I assumed the approximate date at 1904 because I thought I had read this in one of the Rolfs books or, I may have seen it in a period photo that also showed machines for sale of that early period.

We don't have an exact date for the sign, however Ruth Edge remarks in "The Collectors Guide to 'His Master's Voice' Nipper Souvenirs" (P. 415) that the colors and style are similar to those used by Victor from 1905 - 1911.
We do have a 1909 letterhead displaying a similar "Victor Talking-Machine" in an arc over the HMV logo.

It is a rare find and an important piece of HMV advertising history.

Rob