The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Hello,

I have become quite surprised by the variety of machines produced by HMV's continental affiliates. Has anyone considered writing a book on the history of these affiliates, and also showcasing the gramophones they produced? If so, what difficulties would be encountered in crafting it? Would there be any interest in such a book if it were written?

Please let me know your thoughts! I would be interested in writing such a book, and have come to realize that some grants may be available for such a project.

Best Wishes,

Garret Girmus

I think there would be.

Since there is very little information available I am sure that a book would be appreciated by many collectors on both sides of the big pond. I would also pose this question on the German forum, because one of the members there has written some very nice articles about HMV gramophones and also about HMV in India. Some of these articles are both in English and German, the rest can be easily translated with Google translate.

Andreas

The EMI Group Archive Trust would be a good place to start your research.

alang wrote:Since there is very little information available I am sure that a book would be appreciated by many collectors on both sides of the big pond.

There's one here who would be VERY appreciative!

Barry

Such book would be very welcome. The one recently written by C Proudfoot is nice and has good photos, but only deals with English production and is limited to superficial description of the machines. There is another one written some years ago about the portable HMVs, which is well researched and much richer in detail, but again is limited to the English production.

The Indian HMV production is relatively well-known, but the German and Spanish are quite arcane. I have seen quite extraordinary German HMVs, and some very unique Spanish ones, but it is difficult to weed out legitimate products from Frankenphones without reliable references.

Does anyone have a sense of how many models were independently produced by the French and German HMV affiliates? It's my understanding that there were many special one-off machines produced in Spain?

Garret

Garret wrote:Does anyone have a sense of how many models were independently produced by the French and German HMV affiliates? It's my understanding that there were many special one-off machines produced in Spain?

Garret

In the lack of a reference, I have seen several unique French models starting from a mahogany-case berliner to the French lumieres, quite different from the English ones. Also a number of French and German monarchs with cases that did not match any of the English ones. Cabinet and portable machines tended to be rebrands of English ones in France and Germany, even though some German portable gramolas are unique. My guess is that these unique French and German machines count in the dozens over the production span 1900-1930. No idea about Spanish production, the half-dozen horned ones I have seen are all quite unique, even to the horn.

All,

I'm aware of the archives at EMI, but do you know if there are any good archival sources in continental Europe for catalogs and other relevant HMV-affiliate records?

Best,

Garret

Garret,

I wish you well in your endeavour but I do wonder how practical it will be in reality to obtain the information required. I'm not sure the UK EMI archive holds any information specifically relating to the continental ranges and there doesn't appear to be much information on the continent either!

As an owner of a Spanish machine I have always had a great interest in the continental models - in general they were far more decorative and elaborate than the rather pedestrian looking British models and of course they are considerably rarer which adds a little to their mystique. Of course it was the French affiliate responsible for supplying the Spanish market directly so I doubt there will be any surviving records over there.

Anyway you can definitely count me in for a comprehensive book on the subject, if it is possible to produce!

Regards,

Steve