Pocket gramophones

Music

I’ve always been fascinated by the pocket gramophones of the 20s and 30s. I discovered there’s a bunch of them on YouTube. The top one here is a Mikiphone, from 1926. The second one is a Peter Pan gramophone, from 1930. Some models of the Peter Pan even had a clock built into the carrying case/body of the player. My all-time fave pocket gramophone is the Gipsy, which can be seen here.

8 thoughts on “Pocket gramophones

  1. Jack says:

    The ipod of a previous generation!

    These are awesome. I didn’t know they even made pocket gramophones. Thanks for sharing.

  2. Brian says:

    On my last flight I had a vision of an analog music player you could keep enjoying after everyone has had to put away their iPods. Glad to see there’s some slight precedent for vaguely portable analog players.

  3. BigD145 says:

    *Some major assembly required.

  4. S Jansen says:

    I have a groovy little DIY kit from Japan that copies the Emile Berliner disc machine. It cuts and plays back a groove on a cd. The whole thing is about 5 inches square, the turntable runs on a “C” battery (tho I think it would be better if it was run by a spring). Did I first read about it on the MAKE site? Anyway, it’s decidedly lo-fi, but way hi on the cool scale…

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Gareth Branwyn is a freelance writer and the former Editorial Director of Maker Media. He is the author or editor of over a dozen books on technology, DIY, and geek culture. He is currently a contributor to Boing Boing, Wink Books, and Wink Fun. His free weekly-ish maker tips newsletter can be found at garstipsandtools.com.

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