Scarce Decca Portable 78 rpm Record Victrola Phonograph

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Years ago when I was at my phonograph collecting apex, I was fortunate to locate some really unusual pieces that I intended to someday house in a museum for the enjoyment of the public. Since that time, I have had to close my retail store losing both my main source of income and my storage space. Thus, I have been slowing selling off portions of my collection as time allows and as the need prevails. One of my collecting specializations was portable phonographs and I amassed about 2 dozen unusual minatures and portables, many which are not commonly found. This Decca phonograph manufactured in Great Britain is one of them. I have never seen another in private hands, but don't doubt t are a few out t Just that you see them only once in a great while. In my listing heading, I mentioned that this is a victrola....not the brand Victrola with a capital "V", but rather the phonograph denoting an inside horn regardless of manufacturer and so it is denoted with a small "v". I am going through the trouble of mentioning this as I have been contacted by collectors in the past for mentioning that a non-Victor item was being offered as a "victrola" and that it was improper to do so. Thus, I hope you understand my denotation and accept it as authentic. The brand is Decca and this phonograph was manufactured by Barnett Samuel & Sons Limited from about 1913. According to information available to me, this unit was popularly used by the troops in the trenches during WW1. I was able to locate some advertisements and some historical pictures of this phonograph, called the Decca portable or Dulcephone. are the pictures in the event they may be of interest to you. Also note that the advertisements show a variety of uses for the phonograph including within a boat. The advertisements did emphasize the compactness and lightweightness to attract sales appealed to the ladies with words as "it will be seen from the illustrations that the 'Decca' Dulcephone is made like an ordinary handbag". It must be remembered that portability was just coming of age and most prior tabletop units were extremely heavy and difficult to transport: Advertising information below explains the parabolic mirror like reflection with these magical words "t is no mystery about the extraordinary volume of sound that issues from the 'Decca' Dulcephone. Everyone knows the principle of deflection, i.e. that a travelling force gathers impetus the moment it is deflected from another body. The 'Decca' is the outcome of an ingenious application of this principle---it's tone arm propels the sound waves into a hollow (inside the lid) whence they are deflected back again with greatly increased power." This advertisement begins "The Gramophone continues to grow in popularity: it is now-a-days no longer regarded merely as an amusement for a winter's evening, but as a constant and indespensible companion. Even a summer holiday without the familiar gramophone has something lacking, whilst almost any form of out-of-door recreation can be gladdened by it's music." As you can see, this Decca is unusual in that during transport, it has the tonearm fold up into the reflective horn contained in the lid. Upon opening up the phonograph lid, you will see that the tonearm is clipped to hold it into place and is lowered for playing. The crank stores at the bottom of the lid and is inserted outside of the case after moving the escutcheon cover to the side. This is also unusual to have such a cover. The tonearm swivels using a joint so that the horn and lid may remain stationary. The sound coming from the record is transported from the record to the soundbox and passed through the tonearm w it exits and is reflected back into the room like a parabolic mirror. In operation, the results are surprising. But you will not experience any high fidelity ...just that nice victrola sound that many people love to hear. It would appear that someone has made an attempt to restore the p... read more

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