The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I do not know if this is idle speculation or truth so I will not mention any names.

As most will know HMV produced "colonial" versions of some of their machines by using cabinets made of teak. These versions are comparatively rare and more valuable than their closest equivalents in the regular HMV range.

101
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HMV-101-TEAK- ... 1059957499

102
http://www.phonoland.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=2126

112
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... Z7xuPhM3l4

113
http://media.photobucket.com/image/HMV% ... HMV113.jpg

Colonial/Tropical models 100, 114 and 118 also exist.

A rumour has surfaced that a UK gramophone "dealer" is creating new teak machines by taking parts from the much more common non-teak equivalents and combining them with newly created teak cabinets or veneer.

I found this accusation elsewhere on the internet. I have no other evidence or source. I will not name names or provide a link so please do not PM me.

This may all be nonsense but I cannot see the harm in warning UK collectors to be vigilant and to be very suspicious of any apparently cheap teak colonial HMV models which they may come across.

No one is creating "new" Colonial machines for TWO very good (and perhaps blatantly obvious) reasons: the only people with the necessary skill to manufacture these convincingly would charge more than the things are worth; not many collectors even know what the colonial machines are all about. The market is very small, albeit keenly fought when a good item appears but the average collector is happier with a brightly coloured portable that they can find easily in Dave Cooper's book. Certainly no one who claims to be making them has any skill to do so. It's all hot air!

I did originally type a paragraph sharing my doubts that "someone" had the skill to do this. Upon reflection I deleted this paragraph before posting for two reasons. Firstly because anything that could be construed as an insult tends to inflame matters. Secondly because I doubt it takes that much skill to fake a portable such that it passes muster on a couple of eBay photographs. In the flesh is a different matter but who can guess what games people will play.

Sad to hear that we may now have two separate generators of hot air. One assumes that the people whose lives are directly affected by this nonsense have had enough but I doubt that retaliating in kind will help. It is a lovely photograph though.

Retaliating in kind is the worst sort of response imaginable - only a fool would follow that course! It's all rather distasteful and sad really but one can't help but want to knock these two schoolboys heads together with a loud crack! With that said, 99% of what has been alleged about everyone who has ever had any connection to the world of gramophones or the CLPGS is complete and utter tosh. Who believes any of it? Not me anyway!

The strangest thing is that even the 1% of truth that has come out now seems to be a sad lie as well and it's easy to forget the wrongs that have been done as a result of all the B.S. ensuing. No one has done themselves any favours with this.

Now that photograph: are we to assume that it was NOT posed especially for?

I thought about making my own teak portable out of a wrecked 102. It would not be hard to do as the case is a basic box, and I may still do it some day. All it takes is a little bit of skill and the right wood working tools (and some expensive teak lumber ).