The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

So I am sitting here all cozy with wine and watching "Miracle on 34th Street", the thought occurred...which Department stores sold which machines? Macy's, Sears, JC Penney's, Montgomery Ward, Carson, Pirie Scott and Marshall Fields.

I know Marshall Fields sold Cheney Talking Machines

Sears sold Harvard, Oxford and Columbia and of course....Silvertone

This is interesting; when one considers the expense of buying & holding so much stock, it's no wonder that few stores chose to follow Wanamaker's example.

ps - Macy's carried Victor for many years, and fought Victor in court over Macy's price-cutting attempts.

Montgomery Ward & Co sold Ceicilian phonographs

Across Canada, Berliner sold his machines through The Hudson's Bay department store as early as 1901.

My 1909 L-door Victrola was sold by John Wanamaker in Philadelphia.

In the late 1890s and early 1900s, Montgomery Ward sold the Edison line (including Polyphones!) as well as Berliner, Eldridge Johnson, and Victor. The pages of those early M-W catalogs are real eye candy. The March 2008 issue of The Sound Box has a heavily-illustrated article showing some of goodies offered.

George P.

Whiteley's (William Whiteley Ltd) was the first department store to open in London. Comparable in size and prestige to Harrods and Selfridges, it was granted a Royal Warrant by Queen Victoria in 1896. It was taken over by Selfridges in 1927 and the building still exists as a shopping centre.

Whiteley's had their own record label and also sold "Natural Tone" gramophones under their own name.

Edisone wrote:This is interesting; when one considers the expense of buying & holding so much stock, it's no wonder that few stores chose to follow Wanamaker's example.

ps - Macy's carried Victor for many years, and fought Victor in court over Macy's price-cutting attempts.

WOW--that shows just how phonograph crazy the country was in 1919.

Ralph

I believe J.L Hudsons sold Victor products