Seasonal Columbia Ad July 1912

[Lenoirstreetguy]

Columbia touted its Lyric Graphophone as " portable condensed compact ". It's yours...on approval.... for $29.90 including " 6 double-disc records. "
They were on to the whole concept of the portable, and I wonder if this is the first use of the word in its later sense. " You can stow it away easily and carry it anywhere -- boat, automobile ,tent, barn ,lawn or neighbor's veranda.....because it's portable..." Edison machines had a lid with a handle from the earliest days , and manufacturers had been pushing their machines for outdoor use from the beginning , yet the disc manufacturers never thought of adding a carrying handle until the Decca portables a few years later.
Jim