The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I've been collecting machines for 30 years. Luckily, I have a supportive wife. She got interested in Nipper dogs out of cuteness. Then she discovered needle tins as a fascinating thing to collect. From a stamp collector as a kid she tried to find one of everything,, it carried forward. I've included two photos of the earliest Victor needles tins. The one without the " His Master's Voice " is the only one she's ever seen. And she has a very large collection. Always on the lookout. It's nice to have a happy home when I pull the trigger without asking permission. Just thought I'd share 2 photos.

Collect what you love.

Colorado Phonograf

These are really nice! Do you know when abouts they are from? I am very new to this hobby so I was wondering why the tins say both Victor and HMV, I thought they were technically separate companies? Is it because of the fact that the painting of Nipper the dog is called "His Masters Voice"? Please correct me if I am wrong - the more I know, the better!

This is a great post and I have a “His Master’s Voice” needle tin exactly like the second one pictured, that came with a 1903 Victor Type M that I rescued several years ago. Eldridge Johnson, who founded the Victor talking machine company acquired the “his masters voice” trademark from Emile Berliner in 1901, when he founded the consolidated talking machine company. The trademark refers to the name of the painting of Nipper by Barraud. My understanding is that the company, HMV, is the European affiliate and came much later. I must confess that I’ve never completely understood the relationship between the Victor, talking machine company and HMV.

The Gramophone Co. in Britain acquired the His Master’s voice trademark as did the affiliated company Victor. Both companies exploited the trademark, and it first appeared on the Gramophone Company catalogue in December 1899, it also appeared on needle tins and other catalogues early on but it wasn’t until around 1909 when the Gramophone Co. in Britain lost the rights to the word ‘Gramophone’ that they exploited the trademark in full and became known as ‘His Master’s Voice’ especially as this was so prominently displayed on records and machines. At this time the His Master’s voice dog and Gramophone replaced the Recording Angel on records and machines.

In the US it had already appeared on records and machines much earlier on but with the names ‘Victor’ and ‘Victrola’ protected Victor did not have rely so much on the trademark. Their machines being referred to as ‘Victors’ rather than ‘His Master’s Voice’ as it was in Britain.

Thanks very much for the explanation as regards the HMV company. This is very helpful.

John