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Children's...from
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It is my goal to make a significant contribution to this field
of collectibles. The list will never be completed, as most of
the companies that made them are long since out of business,
and have left no information behind. I am aware of almost 200
labels that produced 78-rpm children's records either exclusively,
or as part of their total production. In my collection, I currently
have between seven and eight thousand kiddie 78s (not counting
duplicates) on almost 150 labels. As much information as I have
gathered so far, there is so much more to discover. This is
something that I am pursuing with a passion. Whatever comes
out of this project will offer far more information than exists
today.
How Old is Old?: The era
of 78-rpm records in the United States started in the early
1890's, when single sided disc were created as an alternative
to cylinders. During the late 1950's and early 1960's, the production
of 78's phased out in favor of LP's (33 1/3) and 45's. Columbia
introduced the long-play microgroove LP's in 1948, to which
RCA Victor replied with the 45-rpm record in 1949. The latest
American 78-rpm in my collection is dated 1966, although I own
some British 78s made in 1974! Most American record companies,
in fact, did not make 78's after 1960. According to Diana Tillson, a noted
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children's music collector, writing in The Ephemera
Journal (Vol. 6, 1993): "the earliest children's recorded
discs are five-inch celluloid composition discs with nursery
rhyme lyrics glued to the back which were in included with toy
phonographs made in Germany in the early 1890's."  While
record size (diameter) ranges from 3 ½ " to 12",
most kiddie records are 6-7" or 10". It is important
to note that "78-rpm" refers to the speed at which
the record revolves on the turntable-not the diameter (size
of the record). This is a common misunderstanding among the
non-initiated. If you have any  doubts
on a record you own, find a 78-rpm record player and play the
record. If it sounds like "The Chipmunks", you probably
have a 45- or 33 1/3-rpm recording.
A Brief Survey of Early Kiddie Record
Series: For the purpose of this survey, the early years
of kiddie series records comprise, more or less, the period
from the beginning of WWI to the end of WWII (1914-45)
Turn to Children's...page 7
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263 Machines
and Their Makers: 1916 - 1923 by: R.J.
Wakeman
For two decades, America's talking machine industry was dominated
by Victor, Columbia, and Edison. As basic patents held by
these three companies began to expire in the World War I years,
many new companies entered this lucrative field. It was a
good time to market phonographs since demand
exceeded
supply. Most advertised in the
trade journal Talking Machine World (TMW). While reading issues
dated August 1916 through the 1920s,
I prepared a list of "off brands.": Not including
major companies--Aeolian, Brunswick, Columbia, Edison, Pathe,
Sonora, Victor--the list totaled over 260 companies! Some
enjoyed national distribution--examples are Cheney and Starr--whereas
others were strictly local in distribution. It was not unusual
for a furniture, department, piano, or music store to sell
phonographs under its own name. To supply these stores, many
cabinet manufacturing firms made and sold complete phonographs
while others sold just the cabinets. Motors, reproducers,
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The Otto Heineman Phonograph
Supply Company was especially important for providing basic parts.
Not every phonograph manufacturer is represented in the following
list. I have seen two upright machines of WWI vintage bearing
the name Colonial, but no such company advertised in TMW. Some
regional companies evidently felt that advertising dollars would
be poorly spent in a national trade publication such as TMW. Heavy
advertising in the talking machine industry's leading trade publication
did not guarantee brisk sales. Delphion paid for large ads in
nearly every issue from late 1916 to 1918, yet only a handful
of Delphion machines are known to exist. With
some 200 phonograph brands on the market, executives of new firms
undoubtedly had difficulty selecting distinct and memorable names
for their products. Some companies limited their range of possibilities
by following the trend of adding "-ola" to a prefix.
The Robinola's name no doubt was derived
from the robin's reputation for song. The Harmonola's name was
clearly derived from "harmony." Surprisingly, no company
thought to add "-ola" to "song" for a company
name--that name is found only in fiction. Fannie Kilbourne wrote
a delightful series of "Will and Dot" short stories
which appeared in American Magazine during the 1920s and were
about Will and Dot Horton, a young up-to-date couple with small
twins. The Hortons had neighbors who were making payments on their
"Songola." Some owners added
"-ola" to their names. For example, William Tonk called
his machine the Tonkola. The machine made by
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Sachs and Company was
called the Saxola. Some company owners simply named the machine
after themselves- -Cheney, Emerson, Heintzman, Wilson, Steger,
Crafts, Onken, Weser. By 1919 most phonograph cabinets were made
of veneers. High quality three- and five-ply veneers were produced
and were excellent for phonograph cabinets. Mahogany, walnut,
oak, birch, and gum were woods most often used, mahogany and oak
being the most popular. Spruce was the most favored wood for internal
horns. Because of its evenly proportioned grain, spruce was considered
to provide an ideal sound chamber. Norway pine, hemlock, balsam
fir, and white pine were also used. Several firms made wicker
cabinets though these were not common. These were considered the
best cabinets for use outdoors. The Lakeside Supply Company's
"Art-Kraft Luxfibre" case sold for $200 to $300, depending
on finish and hardware. Most tone arms sold by independent manufacturers
were of the "universal" type which held reproducers
that could be turned and positioned to play either lateral or
vertical shellac records. The tone arms varied in size and shape,
but most were composed of two or more sections and were not truly
tapered in design since that would violate the tapered tone arm
patent owned by the Victor Talking Machine Company. To the dismay
of collectors today, many of these "off brand" phonographs
have tone arms and reproducers made of pot metal, which has not
aged well and now tends to be brittle and break easily. They are
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collectors have made
successful repairs using epoxy resins. Although machines shared
some qualities, unique designs were carefully advertised. The
Hoffay was advertised as being "airtight" for better
sound production. The Brooks featured an automatic repeater and
stop device. The Classique featured a rubber turntable and tone
arm. The Dolce-Tone had a reproducer with a fabric diaphragm.
The Fulton had a spun internal horn. The Olympian was advertised
as a small "apartment sized" console. The Ko-Hi-Ola
was a tall structure that contained a phonograph, some record
shelves, a large clock on top, and even a "secret" compartment.
The internal horn of the Crystola was made of mirror-polished
plate glass, which must have made these phonographs delicate and
difficult to ship. The Ceramiphone featured a ceramic horn. Perhaps
the most remarkable was the Shell-O-Phone which featured an internal
horn made from a large conch-shell collected on the beach of a
South Seas island.  Deca-Disc
and Marvelola produced semi-automatic models that could play in
succession a small stack of discs. The Electric was a coin-operated
automatic phonograph that held 24
Turn to Makers...page 9 |
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