The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Today I brought home a scruffy HMV102D with carrying handle fixings which I have not seen on a 102 before.
Instead of being secured by metal tabs, which are a pain to remove and an even bigger pain to refit, nuts and bolts are used.
The inside of the case shows that these fixings are original. There are no slots through which tabs would have passed.

Interesting, I have myself not seem this yet on any HMV 102. It is always interesting to find something new like this on a machine.

I have had two or maybe three 102s with this style of case handle , which was obviously used by HMV for a while , but could not have been for very long as examples are very infrequently seen. All the examples I had were the standard black cloth versions. RegardsDulcetto

I'm pretty sure I remember being surprised by one of these years ago too.

I understand that these were used during the limited production of 102s during World War Two. Perhaps the original manufacturers (Pakawa) had been bomb-damaged and could no longer supply the usual fittings? I've never seen a 102 with these handles.

Barry

My MOS 102-D is like this. I discovered it when I removed the motorboard and horn to replace the handle; I'd never seen one like this, and I sent pictures to Graham Barber, who had also never seen one. Together we surmised that it was probably a stopgap to get the machine back into production, until the supply of Pakawa handles could be reestablished.

I have seen quite a few of these , but never really looked at the fixings , I always assumed they were replacement bodges , never thinking to look inside and see no slots!

It would be easy to establish when these handles were fitted by comparing the date codes on the label under the turntable. I'd guess somewhere in the 1945-50 era.

The date code is B/9 and the serial number is 16944, so the machine dates from 1945. As "Made in England" appears on the lid transfer I assume that it is an export model.

Yes, 1945, as you say, which is the period you would expect for a substitute component. I don't think 'Made in England' necessarily means it was an export model; at that time, most 102s were being exported, and Made in England would have been added to the normal transfer. By 1957, when my 102 was bought in London, it said 'Made in Gt. Britain'. I wonder when the change was made (subject for another bit of learned research), and why -- England would be perfectly correct for something made in Middlesex!