Berliner Gramophone

Although based in Washington, D.C., Berliner's first joint venture was undertaken in Germany in 1889 with the manufacturer Kämmer & Reinhardt [de], a maker of toys.

[5] Back in Washington, D.C., Berliner tried again under the name of the United States Gramophone Company and began to manufacture machines and record 7-inch hard rubber discs in 1892 and in 1894 (though commercially available plates would only appear since 1894).

[6] Beginning in 1896, Berliner's gramophone players were made by Philadelphia-based machinist Eldridge Johnson, who added a spring motor to drive the previously hand-rotated turntable.

Berliner also opened an office in New York City, staffed by Frank Seaman and O. D. LaDow and organized as the National Gramophone Company.

A new standard cylinder speed of 160 rpm was soon established, reducing the maximum playing time to a little over two minutes and losing an advantage over Berliner's discs.

[8] Seaman countersued for breach of contract, and in June 1900 the court granted an injunction against Berliner and United States Gramophone Company.

Though he would attempt in several proceedings afterward to have the injunction overturned, it was allowed to stand and it compelled Emile Berliner's exit from the gramophone business in the United States of America.

That same year, Gaisberg established Berliner's German subsidiary as Deutsche Grammophon; this was the longest-lasting record company in history under its original charter, until finally being acquired by Universal Music Group in 1999.

It was first located in the Aqueduct Street building of Northern Electric in Montreal, and commenced marketing records and gramophones the following year.

As may be expected, Berliner was well-supplied with the typical band and song selections commonly found on cylinders, but he also branched out into piano music, ragtime, speeches, sermons, instrumental solos and some ethnographic material on a greater scale than his competitors.

From the beginning, Berliner's European subsidiaries were deeply invested in opera and classical music, only indirectly exploited by American cylinder companies, at least in the 1890s.

Documenting the output of American Berliner has proved a daunting task, as original records are scarce collector's items and the company employed a system of block numbering that seems to make little sense.

They have what appears to be the largest concentration of Berliner records in one place, numbering close to 18,000 items and largely collected by Fred Gaisberg in the early years of the company.