Machines![Brunswick Brunswick](http://i692.photobucket.com/albums/vv281/Sidewinder_2009/Brunswick35002.jpg)
Brunswick Phonographs and Records
The Victrola was a new line of phonograph created in 1907 by Eldridge R. Johnson and the Victor Talking Company. The purpose of the Victrola was to have a phonograph that looks less like a machine and more like a piece of furniture.
- by R.J. Wakeman
In the 1920s the two biggest American phonograph companies were the Victor Talking Machine Company and Brunswick. Edison had a relatively small piece of the market by this time. In 1921 Columbia was forced into bankruptcy and receivership due to stock speculations and overproduction. The company bounced back but by 1925 was no longer American, becoming a subsidiary of the British-owned Columbia Ltd.
The Brunswick Company was long known for making billiard equipment. It was founded in 1845 by John Moses Brunswick, who joined Julius Balke in 1873, thereby forming the J.M. Brunswick and Balke Company. In 1879, Hugh W. Collender merged with Brunswick and Balke, forming the world's largest billiard equipment company and calling itself by 1884 the 'Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company.' That is the name we find on many machines, 78s and paper sleeves. Most Brunswick models have a decal under the lid on the lower back panel. It states 'Brunswick' in large gold script with 'The Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company' beneath in smaller black print.
Brunswick cautiously tested the phonograph market in the'teens--and then jumped in. Casting about for a growth project,Brunswick executives had scrutinized newspaper ads for itemsselling well. Phonographs and 78s were selling because of a dancecraze. Cabinets were the most difficult part of a phonograph tomanufacture, and here the huge company saw an opportunity.Phonograph makers were asked if they would be interested in bidson cabinets, and orders for phonograph cases soon had Brunswickfactories humming. The Edison Phonograph Company was Brunswick'smain client.
But making cabinets for others did not satisfy Brunswickexecutives. Why make excellent cases and see them sold underdifferent trade names? It was an affront to company tradition.Workers at the Muskegon plant were given $50 for purchasinghardware and were asked to make two demonstration models thatcould be mass-produced. The models were ready by April 3, 1916.Brunswick executives decided to plunge into this market.
The company began by making two styles of cabinet phonographs,later producing a range of upright and console models as well asa line of period models and custom-built cabinets for the higherpriced markets. It never made external horn models, which were nolonger fashionable. Brunswick's expensive models featured largeornate cabinets with hand crafted designs and carvings, atestament to the factories' wood workers.
![Brunswick Brunswick](http://i692.photobucket.com/albums/vv281/Sidewinder_2009/Brunswick35002.jpg)
In the late 'teens, the company issued some vertical-cutshellac records but only in Canada. Early Brunswick discs werenot sold in the U.S. due to an agreement with the PathePhonograph Company, which opened recording facilities in New YorkCity in 1914 and a large pressing plant in Belleville, NewJersey. By special arrangement, Brunswick phonograph dealerswould sell only Pathe records and advertise Pathe records inlocal newspapers. Brunswick benefited since its phonographsplayed Pathe discs, and Pathe purchased Brunswick cabinets. Thislasted until late 1919.
Brunswick could put many machines on the market in a shorttime and, in 1920, many 78s. Unlike most new companies makingthese products, Brunswick had its own large cabinet manufacturingfacilities and a national retail network.
A distinctive Brunswick innovation was its Ultona reproducer,patented by Louis Taxon on September 18, 1917. It is designed toplay the three main types of discs sold in that period: normallateral shellac (Victor and Columbia 78s), vertical cut shellac(Pathe), and vertical cut Diamond Discs (Edison). The reproducerhas four movable parts which can be adjusted to play any record.Steel needles can be inserted, played, and then removed. Twistthe reproducer and its permanent diamond point (with independentstylus-diaphragm) plays Edison discs. A ball-shaped sapphirestylus mounted in a metal shank plays Pathes and other verticalcut discs. A sliding weight allows for proper pressure on arecord.
The elaborate design of the tone arm causes air leaks butthese can be sealed with grease. Regrettably, some Ultona tonearms are made of pot metal, which can swell and weaken over time,easily breaking and shattering.
Opinions vary regarding Brunswick machines with the Ultona.Most listeners consider the sound to be merely adequate. Modelswith fully restored reproducers and lubricated connections cansound great, but few collectors want to risk replacing diaphragmgaskets on the large and complicated reproducers.
When Edison discs are played, record grooves must move thestylus and heavy reproducer across the disc since no gearingmechanism from the motor advances the tone arm (as is the case inEdison models). Some collectors hesitate to play Edison recordswith the Ultona reproducer for fear of damaging records. Checkthe condition of the Edison jewel stylus often and carefully.
Edison executives probably had Brunswick's Ultona in mind whenadding this warning to Edison record envelopes: 'ThisRe-Creation should not be played on any instrument except theEdison Diamond Disc Phonograph and with the Edison Diamond DiscReproducer, and we decline responsibility for any damage that mayoccur to it if this warning is ignored.' Edison executivesfelt threatened by Brunswick's sales, and they had good reason toworry!
All Brunswick spring motors are of amazingly goodquality--well-designed and quiet running. All have two orthree-spring motors. Grease originally used to lubricate springsmust have been high quality because the springs today rarelyrequire new grease.
Brunswicks have internal horns made of holly or spruce wood.The smaller back sections of the horns often have amazinglycomplex splicing--perhaps to a cheaper wood--in order to connectto the horn throat. All models have a simple short wood tubeconnecting the tone arm's base to the horn throat, providing acompletely wood sound reproducing system below the tone arm.Regarding its internal wood horn, Brunswick claimed, 'It isa vibrant tone chamber like the sounding board of a piano orviolin.'
New Brunswick phonographs came with a set of 10 and 12-inchrecord albums. Brunswick also made accessory items such as steelneedles, needle tins and envelopes, record dusters, even a smallladies' pocket mirror with the reverse side containing the earlyBrunswick logo!
Brunswick records first appeared in stores in January, 1920.The 10-inch popular records (the 2000 series) sold for 75 centseach and 12-inch records (20000 series) sold for $1.25. Earlycelebrity records (5000 series) had similar labels with a violetbackground.
Early jazz artists on the label were the Original Memphis Five(as the Cotton Pickers) and Fletcher Henderson. Great operasingers include Elisabeth Rethberg, Edith Mason, and NinaKoshetz. Brunswick records are well-recorded, bright in thehigher register. Many rank them among the best acoustic recordsmade.
In 1926 Brunswick produced an acoustic phonograph for playingnew electrically recorded 78s. Its reproducer was similar in waysto Victor's Orthophonic soundbox. To create publicity for the newmachine, Brunswick held a contest for the best name and slogan.When one Mildred Bux of Melrose Park, Pennsylvania, submitted thename and slogan 'Prismatone' and 'The instrumentof colorful music,' Brunswick executives gave her the $5,000prize and then ignored her suggestions, instead naming it thePanatrope. It may be Brunswick's finest phonograph.
In April 1930, Warner Brothers Pictures paid around $10million for Brunswick's musical division, which included radios,phonographs, and records. The Warners, successful with Vitaphonetalkies, envisioned a subsidiary record business using WarnerBrothers stars. They had no interest in phonographs but valuedthe Brunswick name. The Brunswick Radio Corporation was asubsidiary of Warner Brothers Pictures, Incorporated. In late1931, the Warners sold it to the newly formed American RecordCorporation. Sales of Bing Crosby 78s helped the company throughthe worst Depression years.
Although its phonographs and 78s sold well, at no time duringthe fourteen years that the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Companymanufactured phonographs and the ten years it made records werethese the company's main products. Brunswick was best known inthe business community for making recreation products. In recenttimes, it has been known for marine, defense, and even aerospaceproducts. In 1995 Brunswick celebrated its 150th year as acompany. Had it not jumped into the recording business decadesago, music-loving Americans would have deprived of some wonderfullistening experiences.
R. J. Wakeman lives in Davis.