1933 Odeon Gramophone in Action

Axel shows me his 1933 Odeaon Gramophone (aka - phonagraph in the USA). Interesting details:

-no electricity, purely mechanical
-a full wind up will play 2 sides.
-format 78rpm shellac records.
-record in the video (1931 Duke Ellington).
-it's a destructive format, every time you play the record, the needles slightly destroy the shellac record.
-needles come in various thickness, the heavier the thickness, the louder the sound, but also the more you destroy the shellac record. Axel had three different thicknesses.
-the amplifier is hidden under the record.
-it was portable, simply close the case, grab a few records and head over to your friends house to rock out to some jazz music.
-was made in Germany.
-Axel was given the gramophone by an Aunt. It had been in the family since the 1930's and as you can see it is in immaculate condition.
-normally Axel plays his 400 shellac collection on more modern record players to avoid destroying them.

Thanks for sharing Axel, it's amazing to get a vibe for what life was like in the 1930's, the heyday of Lindy Hop. Apparently they used these players well into the 1950's.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• gramophone
• phonograph
• jazz
• swing
• odeon
• shellac
• record
• 1933
• lindy
• hop

[SOPM2007]

What kind of motor is this?

[kevinstlaurent]

@SOPM2007 I have no idea, sorry. 

[EmmetEarwax]

If shellac dust is found in the vicinity of the phonograph each time it's used, then - just keep it as a curio and not use it at all. Maybe my uncle's phonograph did that with the shellac records.

[TheSovietBears]

new perk a cola song????

[TekknoPizza]

@SOPM2007, it's a clockwork or spring mechanism.

[SOPM2007]

@kevinstlaurent Sorry I've not read the description. The point was I thought about the driving principle, either by a little generator that is turned by the crank or a spring like in a clockwork mechanism. The latter I couldn't really believe - but now ;-)

[Xaxton2]

The grooves on the record are shaped like the sound waves, causing the needle to vibrate along with what is on the original recording when it passes over them. The needle's vibrations are then transferred to the adjacent "speaker."

[patefon95]

Very nice gramophone! But I thing that the motor needs cleaning and oiling because it works loudly.

Thanks for sharing, 5/5

[sixmanifold]

Amazing! It is fun to show this to my 7yr old daughter who only knows about DVD audio and Blue-ray discs :-)