Original gramophone dealers

[Steve]

I wonder if any other collectors have an interest in tracking down the original buildings / shops which used to be gramophone dealerships. I know some collectors have an interest in former shops in their immediate locality but I've always liked machines with retailers plaques or transfers on them, irrespective of where they've come from. For me personally, it just adds another element of interest.

I'd previously never heard of Jake Graham Gramophones of Liverpool until I bought the Pathé "Rigoletto" recently from an auction in Liverpool. The machine and its later replacement soundbox both came from the same dealer. Imagine my surprise then when an HMV Monarch ("Doric" double-spring) I purchased in West Sussex, also originated from Jake Graham. Another HMV cabinet machine is being offered on The Saleroom currently, also retailed by Jake Graham! I don't know how large the dealership was but it certainly existed from 1902 through 1920 at least. The building itself was erected in 1902 and machines I'm aware of which sold there date from at least 1907 so it's quite likely he was the first retailer in the building. I've attached a Google image of what is approximately 76 & 78A Renshaw Street, as it is today.

Please feel free to share any images you might have found of former gramophone enterprises.

[Hoodoo]

A surprise to see a 1958 Cadillac parked out front.

[epigramophone]

In the series of articles on record covers which I write for the CLPGS magazine, I try wherever possible to include pictures of the business premises both when they were trading and how they look today. All too often the premises no longer exist.

Jake Graham was one of the earliest and longest established Edison stockists in the UK. As late as 1924 he was still advertising old stocks of 2 and 4 minute wax cylinders alongside the latest Blue Amberols and Diamond Discs. In 1921 he staged what was claimed to be the first Edison "Tone Tests" in the UK, and during the 1920's he advertised Edison products in the "Sound Wave" magazine.

The advertisement pictured appeared in "The Sound Box" magazine for June 1920.

[Steve]

Very interesting, thank you, Roger. I note the words: "Sound Wave Exponent" over the entrance in the middle of the picture from the scan.

The address appears to be quite fluid down through the years. "74, 74a and 76" the ad states and yet the latest gramophone to be sold at auction carrying his dealer name plaque states "76 and 78a". Did he shuffle back and forth through the different units in the building, I wonder?

[Rick E]

The Willets Building, built in 1909, was a prominent commercial building in Huntington NY. One of the enterprises was the Suffolk Electrical Company which sold Victor Talking Machines as well as Ford Motor Cars. Nipper can be seen in an enlargement of the window on the right side of the Willets Building. As described in my article in The Antique Phonograph (September 2020), Ada Jones bought her car here.
The Willets Building has undergone multiple uses over the decades. A few years ago, it housed the Honu Restaurant, but it was recently remodeled to become the Craft Kitchen and Tap House.

[Steve]

The Willets Building, built in 1909, was a prominent commercial building in Huntington NY. One of the enterprises was the Suffolk Electrical Company which sold Victor Talking Machines as well as Ford Motor Cars. Nipper can be seen in an enlargement of the window on the right side of the Willets Building. As described in my article in The Antique Phonograph (September 2020), Ada Jones bought her car here.
The Willets Building has undergone multiple uses over the decades. A few years ago, it housed the Honu Restaurant, but it was recently remodeled to become the Craft Kitchen and Tap House.

Willets comp.jpg

Fascinating photographic record, thank you for sharing!

It's a mystery why they've blocked up so many windows in this building and at the same time added seemingly superfluous timber decoration to the gable.

[epigramophone]

This is becoming an interesting thread.
Here we Have Miller's (any relation?) of Cambridge, today (c.2021), c.1900, and c.1960.
The organ pipes on the c.1900 facade are an unusual embellishment.

During WW1 Miller's introduced the "Trench" portable which, unlike the contemporary Decca, was marketed with that name.
No doubt you have one in your collection.

[mrrgstuff]

I sometimes look up dealer tags on Google street view. I think I determined my recently acquired Columbia 124a came from a shop which has been an Opticians since about 1990!

The picture I attach is unrelated and I know nothing about the sign or company other than the fact the wall is in Newbury, Berkshire, UK

[Steve]

This is becoming an interesting thread.
Here we Have Miller's (any relation?) of Cambridge, today (c.2021), c.1900, and c.1960.
The organ pipes on the c.1900 facade are an unusual embellishment.

During WW1 Miller's introduced the "Trench" portable which, unlike the contemporary Decca, was marketed with that name.
No doubt you have one in your collection.

I do indeed have one. Not long after I acquired it, I contacted Millers Music about it to see if they were aware of their past. The person I contacted was fascinated by it but referred my request to another, then long-retired, member of staff who rifled through their historic paper records and was able to confirm that the Trench portable was commissioned by, of all things, the Canadian Army.

Thank you for the photos of their shop. I am of course no relation!

[epigramophone]

J.G.Windows Ltd have been trading from the same premises in the Central Arcade, Newcastle since 1908.
The Windows family sold the business in 2006, but it is now one of the UK's longest established music stores.