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I decided to open a general thread, where it is possible to show and discuss German made portables. Everyone is of course free to upload and show their German portables in this thread. I will from now on myself use this thread for German portables that come my way, and that I sense it could be of interest to show/discuss, to know more about portables that are less discussed on the forum, and that we in general also know far less about than the HMV/ Columbia portables often discussed here in the British/European section of the forum.

Hopefully it may also increase the general knowledge and interest about these portables. I have myself become more interested in the German portables in the last few months, also because they are harder to find, and also it seems to exist little written information about these portables in general. Somehow they also seem to land on my doorstep more often these days, and that in itself is also a good reason to try to dig a bit deeper into the history of these portables.

I yesterday picked up two. I did not pay much for them, and they are also not pristine in any way, but using Google, it is hard to find much information about them, and that is of course a good reason to take some photos and share the photos here on the forum.

A funny thing is that I a few weeks back donated an Odeon Lindex to the daughter of one of my male friends, and what happens...here comes another Lindex into my house! ( If you want to compare the two Lindex portables, here is the link to the thread showing the Odeon Lindex: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=45311 ) This time a Parlophone Lindex, but as we know Parlophone and Odeon are two faces of the same company, we here see an example that even the Lindex name was used both for an Odeon and a Parlophone portable. I checked with the German forum, and it is told there that the Lindex name was registered by Lindstrom in 1924, so the date of this machine must be somewhere between 1924-1930. The front wind, and the front right position of the tonearm, may possibly hint at an early 1920s more than a later 1920s model? It is also interesting to see that an Odeon soundbox is attached to this Parlophone Lindex.

The second portable is an Odeon 1. The interesting thing here, is that a label on the motorboard tells the manufacture date of this portable, which is December 1936! ( Interesting, the label itself seems to be made in UK, while the date, has a German stamp..DeZember.) When we know that Lindstrom AG in 1926 became part of Columbia, and later on in 1931 merged with HMV to form EMI, we can see obvious similarties between this Odeon 1, and HMV portable models of the same era. The low quality carrying handle, comes to my mind immediately! But also the lock looks very familiar, and the metal motorboard, and I am sure you forum members also will see other similarities...

Please feel free to comment, and also correct my opinons, if ou feel like it. This is totally new area for me, and the only way to learn more is to express opinions and share information.

PS. I have not yet opened the motors, and not even cleaned the gramophones since I got them home late last evening. I will add photos later when I start service them. The main spring is working on both portables, but the return spring is destroyed or has fallen off, on the black Parlophone.

I am adding another Odeon portable, that I got yesterday. This model is more solid than the Odeon 1 from 1936. It has no visible model name from the outside, only the transfer inside the lid. The label on the motorboard however exposes that it is Model 9102. The soundbox looks exactly the same as Columbia NO 15 soundbox, and also the grid is exactly the same, only the stamp on the back side tells it is made for Odeon. I believe the Columbia No 15 soundbox is from 1928-30, and very likely this portable is from the same period, when Odeon/Lundstrom AG was part of Columbia in the UK. One can easily see similarities from UK made portables of the same period, and also the label on the motorboard is in English. The casing is also of very good quality, and we recognize its inspirations..

Any comments on the label on the motorboard, soundbox, or gramophone are welcome, and as always also appreciated.

This is the Odeon version of the Columbia 204/HMV 97 of 1933/34, the first portable designed after the 1931 EMI merger.
The Columbia No.15 soundbox was an American design which replaced the No.9 on UK machines in 1929/30. For the HMV 97 it was badged as the No.21.

And going by the ID tag date code, it's from 1948.
I wouldn't be surprised if the motor is stamped made in England, and is very likely the same motor design of an HMV 97 motor of the same era.
It's a great variation though, and it's in wonderful condition.

I will upload photos of the motor during the next two weeks, when I will service the motor. It will be interesting to see if it is the same kind of motor that I serviced in my HMV 87 a few months back in time. The gramophone is in far better condition than I expected from the photos when I made a bid on it that the seller immediately accepted. The only thing missing is the lid hinge, and I can live with that. That it is in blue color, comes extra...

I have not had time yet to service the Odeon portable shown above, so we can see what motor is inside of it. Hopefully during the next two weeks, it will happen. The last weeks have been busy with more important services on some different gramophones.

Meanwhile...I came across this small charming lad:) Did you guys/gals know that Triumphon ever was affiliated with, or even had a cooperation with British Petroleum? Neither did I!

PS. Only watch, not buy, this time.

This unusually shaped but cosmetically challenged Polydor is currently languishing on UK eBay at a very low price.
I am resisting the temptation to buy something for which I have no use, simply because it looks interesting and cheap.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Antique-Poly ... %7Ciid%3A1

nostalgia wrote:I decided to open a general thread, where it is possible to show and discuss German made portables. Everyone is of course free to upload and show their German portables in this thread. I will from now on myself use this thread for German portables that come my way, and that I sense it could be of interest to show/discuss, to know more about portables that are less discussed on the forum, and that we in general also know far less about than the HMV/ Columbia portables often discussed here in the British/European section of the forum.

Hopefully it may also increase the general knowledge and interest about these portables. I have myself become more interested in the German portables in the last few months, also because they are harder to find, and also it seems to exist little written information about these portables in general. Somehow they also seem to land on my doorstep more often these days, and that in itself is also a good reason to try to dig a bit deeper into the history of these portables.

I yesterday picked up two. I did not pay much for them, and they are also not pristine in any way, but using Google, it is hard to find much information about them, and that is of course a good reason to take some photos and share the photos here on the forum.

A funny thing is that I a few weeks back donated an Odeon Lindex to the daughter of one of my male friends, and what happens...here comes another Lindex into my house! ( If you want to compare the two Lindex portables, here is the link to the thread showing the Odeon Lindex: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=45311 ) This time a Parlophone Lindex, but as we know Parlophone and Odeon are two faces of the same company, we here see an example that even the Lindex name was used both for an Odeon and a Parlophone portable. I checked with the German forum, and it is told there that the Lindex name was registered by Lindstrom in 1924, so the date of this machine must be somewhere between 1924-1930. The front wind, and the front right position of the tonearm, may possibly hint at an early 1920s more than a later 1920s model? It is also interesting to see that an Odeon soundbox is attached to this Parlophone Lindex.

The second portable is an Odeon 1. The interesting thing here, is that a label on the motorboard tells the manufacture date of this portable, which is December 1936! ( Interesting, the label itself seems to be made in UK, while the date, has a German stamp..DeZember.) When we know that Lindstrom AG in 1926 became part of Columbia, and later on in 1931 merged with HMV to form EMI, we can see obvious similarties between this Odeon 1, and HMV portable models of the same era. The low quality carrying handle, comes to my mind immediately! But also the lock looks very familiar, and the metal motorboard, and I am sure you forum members also will see other similarities...

Please feel free to comment, and also correct my opinons, if ou feel like it. This is totally new area for me, and the only way to learn more is to express opinions and share information.

PS. I have not yet opened the motors, and not even cleaned the gramophones since I got them home late last evening. I will add photos later when I start service them. The main spring is working on both portables, but the return spring is destroyed or has fallen off, on the black Parlophone.

The machines were completely made in Germany but also were exported, that is why it‘s written in english.
Yeah, the naming by Lindström in the early years was very crude, many names double and other machines wear a other name without obvious reasons.

nostalgia wrote:I am adding another Odeon portable, that I got yesterday. This model is more solid than the Odeon 1 from 1936. It has no visible model name from the outside, only the transfer inside the lid. The label on the motorboard however exposes that it is Model 9102. The soundbox looks exactly the same as Columbia NO 15 soundbox, and also the grid is exactly the same, only the stamp on the back side tells it is made for Odeon. I believe the Columbia No 15 soundbox is from 1928-30, and very likely this portable is from the same period, when Odeon/Lundstrom AG was part of Columbia in the UK. One can easily see similarities from UK made portables of the same period, and also the label on the motorboard is in English. The casing is also of very good quality, and we recognize its inspirations..

Any comments on the label on the motorboard, soundbox, or gramophone are welcome, and as always also appreciated.

The Odeon is very similar to low budget Columbia and HMV machines like from the UK. This one was made and sold in france. Not really connected to Germany anymore

epigramophone wrote:This unusually shaped but cosmetically challenged Polydor is currently languishing on UK eBay at a very low price.
I am resisting the temptation to buy something for which I have no use, simply because it looks interesting and cheap.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Antique-Poly ... %7Ciid%3A1

It‘s a german Polydor No.5a from the early 50s and was made in many different colors. There was a very similar design used before and in the war on machines which were still branded „Die Stimme seines Herrn“. I have one Polydor in the version with a hybrid motor by Dual. It has a spring and can also used with electricity at home

Thank you for adding more interesting and important information to the thread, Nektreg.