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Victor Talking Machine Company

From Alfawiki
Victor Talking Machine Company
Company typePrivate
IndustryPhonograph manufacturing, sound recording
Founded1901
FounderEldridge R. Johnson
Defunct1929
FatePurchased by Radio Corporation of America (RCA); became RCA Victor Division
Headquarters
Camden
,
United States
Area served
Worldwide
ProductsPhonographs, records (including Victrola series and Red Seal label)

The Victor Talking Machine Company was a prominent American enterprise specializing in phonograph manufacturing and sound recording, established in 1901. It functioned as an independent entity until 1929, when it was purchased by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and subsequently rebranded as the RCA Victor Division, eventually becoming RCA Records in 1968.

Headquartered in Camden, New Jersey, Victor stood as the foremost and most esteemed company of its type worldwide, distinguished by its famous "His Master's Voice" emblem and the well-known "Victrola" series of phonographs. The firm also curated a significant collection of operatic and classical music under the esteemed Red Seal label. Following its integration with RCA, Victor continued to be a dominant American manufacturer of records and phonographs throughout the 1960s.

History

In 1896, Emile Berliner, who invented the gramophone and disc record, engaged Eldridge R. Johnson, proprietor of a machine workshop in Camden, to produce a spring-driven motor for the gramophone. Johnson became deeply interested in the apparatus and introduced numerous enhancements to both gramophone mechanics and disc recording methods. By 1900, Johnson established the Consolidated Talking Machine Company in Philadelphia. After enduring extensive patent disputes, this company was reorganized in 1901 as the Victor Talking Machine Company based in Camden.

Name

Multiple narratives exist concerning how the "Victor" name originated. According to RCA historian Fred Barnum, several theories are plausible: Johnson might have considered his improved gramophone a triumph in science and commerce; he could have emerged victorious from expensive patent conflicts involving Berliner's gramophone patents and Frank Seaman's Zonophone; Johnson’s associate Leon Douglass may have drawn inspiration from his wife's name "Victoria"; or perhaps it was influenced by admiration for the engineering of the "Victor" bicycle. The first two explanations are generally regarded as the most credible. The name Victor was first documented on company stationery dated March 28, 1901.

Marketing

Herbert Rose Barraud inherited an Edison-Bell cylinder phonograph along with his brother’s dog, Nipper. Barraud's artwork, titled His Master's Voice, initially depicted Nipper listening to an Edison-Bell phonograph featuring a black horn. When attempts to sell the painting failed, the black horn was replaced with a brass one sourced from the Gramophone Company workshop in London, overseen by American William Barry Owen. Owen purchased the painting on the condition that Barraud substitute the cylinder phonograph with a disc gramophone, although remnants of the original design remain visible. Emile Berliner obtained U.S. copyright protection for this image in 1900, and Eldridge Johnson adopted the Nipper/"His Master's Voice" trademark for use by Consolidated and later Victor.

By 1915, the "His Master's Voice" emblem adorned large leaded-glass windows at Victor’s Camden headquarters, known as the Victrola cabinet building. This structure still stands today, featuring replica windows installed during RCA’s stewardship; one original window is preserved at the Smithsonian Institution.

Era of Acoustical Recording (1901–1925)

Victor initially released records under several labels: Victor issued 7-inch discs, Monarch produced 10-inch records, and De Luxe offered 12-inch versions. Additionally, a limited run of 14-inch De Luxe Special records was marketed between 1903 and 1904. By 1905, these various labels were unified under the single Victor brand.

Victor played a leading role in early jazz and blues recordings; notably, its Military Band made history in 1914 in Camden by recording the first blues track, "The Memphis Blues". In 1917, The Original Dixieland Jazz Band produced "Livery Stable Blues", one of the earliest commercially available jazz recordings.

Electrical Recording Period and RCA Takeover (1925–1929)

During the early 1920s, the rise of radio as a dominant form of home entertainment posed a significant threat to Victor and the record business. Radio broadcasts offered free music with sound quality superior to phonograph records, leading to a sharp decline in record sales. Initially, Victor underestimated the impact of radio and resisted adopting electrical recording technology, resulting in financial difficulties by 1925. The company then embraced Western Electric's microphone-based electrical recording system, naming it "Orthophonic," and introduced new phonographs called "Orthophonic Victrolas" designed specifically to play these enhanced-fidelity records. Both Victor and competitor Columbia Records kept this innovation confidential until fall 1925 to build stock and prepare consumers. On November 2, 1925—known as "Victor Day"—Victor launched its most extensive promotional campaign to unveil this technology and its associated products.

Victor’s inaugural commercial electrical recording session took place on February 26, 1925, at its Camden facility. Eight prominent artists recorded "A Miniature Concert," producing both acoustic and electrical versions; the electrical takes were released that summer on a twelve-inch 78 rpm disc (Victor 35753). The earliest electrical release was Victor 19626, a ten-inch disc recorded on March 16, 1925, under the direction of Nathaniel Shilkret, featuring performances by the University of Pennsylvania's Mask and Wig Club. On March 21, Victor recorded its first electrical Red Seal release: pianist Alfred Cortot performing works by Chopin and Schubert.

In 1926, Eldridge Johnson divested his controlling stake in Victor to financial institutions JW Seligman and Speyer & Co., who then sold the company to the Radio Corporation of America in 1929.

Archival Collections

The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) continues the work initiated by Ted Fagan and William Moran with the Encyclopedic Discography of Victor Recordings (EDVR), striving to catalog all Victor recordings alongside those from Columbia, Brunswick, and other historic American labels now owned by Sony Music Entertainment. The primary source material for this effort comes from Victor’s archival files.

In 2011, Sony Music Entertainment partnered with the Library of Congress to launch the National Jukebox, an online platform offering streaming access to over 10,000 recordings made before 1925—many of which had not been publicly accessible for over one hundred years.

See also

Further reading

  • Bryan, Martin F. Report to the Phonothèque Québécoise Regarding the Search for Archival Materials of Berliner Gram-O-Phone Co., Victor Talking Machine Co., and R.C.A. Victor Co. (Montréal), 1899–1972. Montréal: Phonothèque Québécoise, 1994.

External links

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