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Nelmur portable anyone seen one before ?

it's on Ebay see Auction & Craigslist

http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... 14&t=31826

Yes, I've seen a few about but they're basically a clone of the Beltona portable. Or should that be the other way around?

I was also thinking Beltona - could it be that the Beltona Logo has been covered by the Nelnur tag?

That is a nice unique machine. It seems in excellent shape... Tom B

Sidewinder wrote:I was also thinking Beltona - could it be that the Beltona Logo has been covered by the Nelnur tag?

...or that both just put their own badges on machines mfd. by and procured from yet another co.?

drh wrote:

Sidewinder wrote:I was also thinking Beltona - could it be that the Beltona Logo has been covered by the Nelnur tag?

...or that both just put their own badges on machines mfd. by and procured from yet another co.?

That is the most logical explanation, given that Beltona was just one of several brand names used on gramophones marketed by the J.G.Murdoch empire, once one of the largest suppliers in the UK. Many of the machines marketed by Murdoch's were manufactured by Symphonion, who also supplied other major retailers.

Yes, nice looking machine. I'm generally not a fan of late 19th, early 20th C oak furniture (with a few exceptions. Morris in the UK, Stickley in the US), but I do appreciate it on talking machines.

The cabinet work on the machines seems to be quite good, well made. In the US, plenty of inexpensive--I could write cheap--machines were made, particularly those Columbia client machines (which is why I find them interesting). I don't recall seeing on this Forum a cheaply made cabinet from abroad--I mean manufactured outside the US. I don't mean those so-called frankenphones and crapolas. Is this because of my selective memory or were cheaply made machines manufactured in the UK and Europe? I refer more to the cabinet then the motor.

By the way, love that spell check. I had to retype "crapolas" several times. Seems that "carpools" is the preferred spelling.

jboger wrote:Yes, nice looking machine. I'm generally not a fan of late 19th, early 20th C oak furniture (with a few exceptions. Morris in the UK, Stickley in the US), but I do appreciate it on talking machines.

The cabinet work on the machines seems to be quite good, well made. In the US, plenty of inexpensive--I could write cheap--machines were made, particularly those Columbia client machines (which is why I find them interesting). I don't recall seeing on this Forum a cheaply made cabinet from abroad--I mean manufactured outside the US. I don't mean those so-called frankenphones and crapolas. Is this because of my selective memory or were cheaply made machines manufactured in the UK and Europe? I refer more to the cabinet then the motor.

By the way, love that spell check. I had to retype "crapolas" several times. Seems that "carpools" is the preferred spelling.

There were many small firms in the UK turning out gramophones in cheap plywood cabinets and fitted with bought in mechanical components. Just how cheap can be seen from the examples pictured from 1928, when a basic black HMV 101 portable cost £7.

Well, I asked for it.