The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Can anyone please tell us what this term means, and perhaps during what range of years it was used?

"Olotonal" only seems to appear on later portables when I do a google search on the term...but also on this larger machine:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Pathé-P ... 6016.l4276

Could it be referring to some French response to Victor's Orthophonic line? This particular machine seems sort of older than mid-20s in style, but who knows?

Thanks.

The Olotonal appeared after Pathé was sold to Marconi and abandoned the vertical-cut records. There is nothing special to distinguish the Olotonal from miriad competing brands from the period, and the only commonality the orthophonic vitrolas is that most Olotonal soundboxes were also made of pot metal, and are useless today. A pity, as some of them are very good looking, designed in Art Deco style.

Thanks! I really, REALLY wish there was a Pathé book, in English. Their product lines are so varied and interesting...and baffling at times.

A most elegant Pathé Olotonal cabinet machine is pictured on page 210 fig.5-49 of "A World of Antique Phonographs".

As the book points out, Pathé had Olotonal, Victor had Orthophonic, Columbia had Viva-Tonal, Edison had Edisonic and Brunswick had Panatrope. In the UK Decca had Audioscopic, HMV had Re-Entrant and Micro-Perophone had Chromogram.

Technobabble is nothing new!

Pathé used the prefix "Olo-" even earlier for other lines of Gramophones:

http://grammophon-platten.de/e107_plugi ... post_17729

Does anyone know any particulars of what sort of improved or scientific horn configurations may have been used for the Olotonal machines, or better, have any pictures to share?

Something is definitely wrong with that machine. The Olotonal range was not introduced until the production of vertical cut records had ceased. Either the original Pathé decal was removed when the cabinet was restored, and the Olotonal plaque put on to cover the vacant space, or the original arm has been replaced with an earlier version.

Barry

Thanks for that insight. I was circling it, and ready to pull the trigger...asked the seller to remove the back panel and show me what was within; he/she agreed to do so the next morning, but when I followed up, then announced it was sold. So we'll never know, unless a member bought it.

Even if it's a frankenphone (in this case, it would be a Franco-frankenphone!), it's handsome and I probably should have bought it anyway!

It was indeed a handsome machine.

Clay

The wonderful thing about this 100% original machine....is the added plate showing it was a gift from Gabriel to a woman named Clairette "with" 41 years. So, a birthday or maybe an anniversary gift...perhaps..???

What a nice romantic touch to have with a machine... .