The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

The earliest advertisement for Emile Berliner's Gramophone in the US that I am aware of dates from January 19, 1896. Earlier newspaper reports only mention that the gramophone would soon be available for sale. Since sales are said to have begun much earlier, the first one-page disc catalogue dates November 1, 1894, there should be earlier advertisements. Do you know any? A contemporary report about someone who bought a gramophone and exhibited it would also be helpful.

Even if Emile Berliner sold only locally, he must have advertised his products at some point. Each gramophone would have caused quite a stir, and the first buyers would certainly have shown it off in public, which was undoubtedly reported in the press.

For comparison: According to a contemporary report, machines and discs from Grammophon-Fabrik Kämmer, Reinhardt & Co. went on sale in Germany at the beginning of September 1890. Early reports of demonstrations by private individuals, apparently the first buyers, showed up in November, and the earliest sales advertisement from a retail store outside the factory outlet known to me dates December 4, 1890.

sometime around 1894, I think

https://millerandmillerauctions.squares ... e%20record.

https://www.edisontinfoil.com/berhand.h ... 0in%201895.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emile_Berliner

one more link:

https://www.loc.gov/collections/emile-b ... scientists.

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sometime around 1894, I think
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That is why I am surprised that I have found no references in the daily press before January 1896 to the marketing of the gramophone in the US. One possible explanation is that until this time there were only samples of machines and discs to attract investors, and no sales at all. I hope that someone in the group has found earlier evidence.

Here is an example from my collection of the ‘United States Gramophone Co’ Gramophone, which would have been one of the earliest example's produced in the United States, prior to the formation of the Berliner Gramophone Company.

Here is an example from my collection of the later ‘Berliner Gramophone Co’ Gramophone.
I am not sure of the production dates of the United States Gramophone, but an investigation into the dates that the U.S. Gramophone company was in business, prior to the formation of the Berliner Gramophone Company may give some clue. I would wonder if the gramophones produced by the United States Gramophone company may have been produced in small numbers to attract investors, which might explain the lack of early advertising for these early machines.

Your wonderful early machine with the manufacturer's label from the United States Gramophone Co. would fit in well with the historical sources and could indeed be considered the missing link. I think the historical sequence of events was as follows, but perhaps sources unknown to me prove me wrong.

On September 2, 1895, Emile Berliner signed a contract with the investor William C. Jones to organize a company to manufacture, buy, sell, rent and operate gramophones and other mechanical device. On October 8, 1895, the Berliner Gramophone Co. was incorporated and soon, on November 1, 1895, initiated agreements with Jones in which he granted and sold all his rights. By signing agreements with Jones, the Berliner Gramophone Co. also committed itself to purchase for cash all gramophones and gramophone goods in stock and all manufacturing machines owned by the United States Gramophone Co., paying manufacturer’s prices.

With the prospect of finally having found an organization to manufacture and distribute his invention, Emile Berliner went to the press. “The gramophone, a talking machine, much simpler and cheaper than the phonograph, invented by Dr. Berliner, the famous electrician, will soon be put upon the market”, wrote the Springfield Republican in its issue of September 28, 1895. Almost identical press reports followed on October 13, 1895 (Kansas City Sunday Journal) and January 9, 1896 (Central Nevadan).

From then on, development accelerated. On January 14, 1896, the New England Gramophone Co., organized by Alfred O. Tate, Edison's former private secretary, and William C. Jones, was looking for salesmen for the “Berliner gramophone, the new talking machine” and named a selling price of $14. This was undercut by Frank Seaman's New York Gramophone Co., which advertised the gramophone on January 19, 1896 as the “perfect talking machine” for just $12.

There is no doubt that the stock of the United States Gramophone Co., which the Berliner Gramophone Co. had to take over, was cleared first. Gramophones like the one pictured above thus became the initial models introduced to the US market in January 1896.

Thank you. That is great information and a logical timeline.

In London in 1892 Berliners were available in London through the company Parkins & Gotto. Machines & 5" discs

That Berliner with the Washington, DC tag is just magnificent. Do any others exist?

Garret

While rarer than those made in Philadelphia, hand winds made with Washington tags exist.
The newspapers of 1895-6 mention a toy Berliner for $5.00. Is that the same as the "toy Berliner" shown in the recent Stanton auction?