Gramophones from Burma...one confusing machine!

Hi all,

Being slightly less busy the past week, I thought I'd spent my time trawling thru the country for gramophones. Apart from tons of crapophones and machines beyond salvage, I came across some machines that I could not identify (as in are they fakes, rubbish or good). Though it would be interesting to get your comments and views.I apologize for the quality of the snaps and also in some places the buyer would not let me take photos.

This one was in immaculate condition and played beautifully. Does anybody know anything about this brand? And also, can someone please tell me / us a bit about the extended speaker on the side. Were they popular for a couple of years or popular amongst a certain brand, perhaps?

Is it a repro, a fake, a home project...or a genuine machine? Any ideas?

That emulates the Art Deco "half rounded" style of many electrically amplified gramophones & radios produced during the mid to late 1930s. This style was especially popular for table radios -- for instance -- http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/922694

I'd imagine that the same type of cabinet might have been used to house a radio-gram, perhaps also sold by the manufacturer?

From the standpoint of practicality, I'd say that the main advantage of this type of cabinet design would have been its ability to accommodate a slightly larger and longer horn than had the more conventional boxy style been used.

The only problem with the design, I can see, is that the front mounted crank distracts from the illusion that this could be an electrical gramophone--if that's what the designers had in mind.

It was obviously designed for portability. Is there a carrying handle on the side?

Regarding your question - Nope, definitely no carrying handle on the side. But this would surely not be a portable? Not with that speaker attachment (which is non-detachable). Unless you mean that the original gramophone box was modified by someone down the line who took out the left wall and added the speaker.

"The only problem with the design, I can see, is that the front mounted crank distracts from the illusion that this could be an electrical gramophone"
Thats a really interesting observation and now that you raised it, it makes a lot of sense. Even a seller stuck with one of these in the 50s may have tried to do some "modifications" to attract buyers...and then put the crank upfront cause if not he would have to drill a hole in the side, carry out more modifications perhaps...?

spoonman5150 wrote:Regarding your question - Nope, definitely no carrying handle on the side. But this would surely not be a portable? Not with that speaker attachment (which is non-detachable). Unless you mean that the original gramophone box was modified by someone down the line who took out the left wall and added the speaker.

Looking at the photo again, I don't think that the "speaker" area was added onto a conventional boxy cabinet. It all looks original, and would be in line with the furniture styles popular in the mid to late 1930s, into the 1940s, but I guess I'd have to see it in person to really tell.

The reason I said it was designed for portability was because of the locking latch for the lid, and the crank handle clip inside the player compartment. Most of the table top models I've seen that were designed to be stationary normally did not come with latches to hold the lid or crank or tone arm firmly in place. (Many did come with lid locks, of course, but I think that was done mostly to keep inquisitive fingers away from the playing compartment when Mom & Dad weren't in the room.)

One possibility would be that the manufacturer may have offered a conventional boxy portable cabinet, as well as the more elaborate table-top version, and simply installed the same components into both cabinets. It's hard to say.

Since so many off-brand gramophones were produced and sold during this period--and so many had short production runs--it's probably not likely that any detailed information will surface about the manufacturer, other than, perhaps, a few newspaper or magazine ads--if that much. I've come across a dozen or so that made their way to the US. The same style Swiss made components seemed to have been fitted into a variety of cabinets, sold under different brand names. (This topic, in fact, was discussed on this board awhile back -- viewtopic.php?f=7&p=5531 )

In any event, I like the looks of it and wouldn't mind having one, for novelty sake, if it were to surface in my neck of woods. (Unfortunately, where I live, the average price for even the most common, cheaply made models is astronomical compared to other parts of the country/world. So, if by some miracle, it would surface in my neck of the woods, the seller would probably want $1000 for it.)

JDS