Phonograph Signage

Signs, billboards and window displays promoting the Phonograph

 

 

 

Edison muslin banner, The Edison Phonograph Monthly, August 1908

 

 

 

"Leaders of the World," The Edison Phonograph Monthly, July 1910

 

"Leaders of the World," The Edison Phonograph Monthly, July 1910

 

Facts about the Edison Electric Sign, New York City "Leaders of the World"

 

The Edison Phonograph Monthly (Music Trades) November 1910

 

 


Factola: William Joseph Hammer, a laboratory assistant who assisted Thomas Edison in the development of the incandescent light bulb (3) built the world's first advertising sign using incandescent electric lights.(4) For more on Hammer and his spectacular 'Electric Dinners' read Allen Koenigsberg's "Electrical Diablerie - The Lost 'Electrical Dinners' of W. J. Hammer."



Camden County Historial Society

Victor's 1906 sign on Herald Square, New York City. "Illuminated by more than a thousand lightbulbs" and Nipper more than twenty-five feet high it was at the time "reported to be the most expensive in the world." (1)





Edison Billboards on the Hotel Bartholdi, New York City, The Edison Phonograph Monthly July 1907


 



The Edison Phonograph Monthly, May 1907

 

 

 

 

 

Selling Records Through Your Window

The Edison Phonograph Monthly, September 1908

 

 

The Edison Phonograph Monthly, October 1908

 

 

 

 

Form 2106 Edison Booklet for Edison Dealers for Christmas, 1911

 

 

 

 

The Talking Machine World, July 1917

 

 

 

The Talking Machine World, March 1917

 

 

 

An article by "Ellis Hansen, who is recognized as one of the most practical designers of talking machine window displays in the United States" was illustrated by this photograph. Three 'cut-outs in this early fall window are used in this display that was designed "when the Victor Co. featured the Castles in their national advertising campaign in the daily papers, illustrating the different dance steps introduced by these clever artists." The Talking Machine World, August 1917

 

 

The Summer Vacation month with New Victor Records - Window display designed by Ellis Hansen (2), The Talking Machine World, October 1917

 

 

 

 

The Talking Machine World, November 1917

 

 

 

Cracker-Jack Window Display - As the record plays the Liberty Bell revolves and the Flags wave.

The Talking Machine World, November 1917

 

The Talking Machine World, November 1917

 

 

 

 

The Talking Machine World, November 1917

 

 

 

 

Edison Store Window Display, The Talking Machine World, February 1918

 

 

 

 

Victrola Advertising, The Talking Machine World, November 1918

 

 

 

Electric Sign Advertising, The Talking Machine World, February 1919

 

 

 

Sonora Billboard, The Talking Machine World, July 1919

 

 

 

 

"DA-LITE" Displays, The Talking Machine World, December 15, 1921

 

"DA-LITE" Displays, The Talking Machine World, February 15, 1922

 

 

Columbia Dealer Window and Materials, The Talking Machine World, March 1922

 

 

Victor's release of Gypsy Blues from the musical "Shuffle Along" featured in the window of Emanuel Blout's store in New York City

The Talking Machine World, March 1922

 

 

 

The Talking Machine World, May 1922

 

 

The Victor Outdoor Sign stands 14 ft. high when erected. 1922

 

 

 

The Talking Machine World, November 1922

 

 

 

The Talking Machine World, August 1923

 

 

 

 

The Talking Machine World, September 1923

 

 

 

The Talking Machine World, September 1923