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{{Short description|Former American record and phonograph manufacturer}}
{{redirect|Victrola}}
{{Redirect|Victrola}}
{{Unreferenced|date=December 2006}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=February 2022}}
{{Infobox company
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2016}}
| name = Victor Talking Machine Company
{{Infobox record label <!-- See Misplaced Pages:WikiProject_Music -->
| logo = ]<br/>"]" logo with ]
| type = ] | name = Victor Talking Machine Company
| fate = Acquired | image = His Master's Voice.jpg
| image_size = <!-- size -->
| successor = Radio-Victor Division of<br/>the ] (immediate)<br>] (current)
| caption = "]" logo with ]
| foundation = 1901
| founder = ],<br/>possibly also ] | parent = <!-- parent company, such as "]" -->
| defunct = 1929 | founded = {{Start date and age|1901}}
| location_city = ] | founder = ], ]
| status = Acquired by ] in 1929; known today as ]
| location_country = ]
| distributor = <!-- distributors, separate with commas or <br /> -->
| key_people =
| genre = Classical, blues, popular, jazz, country, bluegrass, folk
| industry = ]
|country = United States
| products = ]s, ],<br/>the Victrola
| location = ]
| owner = Johnson, then Seligman & Spyer, finally Radio Corporation of America
| subsid = ] (ties severed at onset of ])
| footnotes =
}} }}
The '''Victor Talking Machine Company''' was an American recording company and ] manufacturer, incorporated in 1901. Victor was an independent enterprise until 1929 when it was purchased by the ] (RCA) and became the '''RCA Victor''' Division of the Radio Corporation of America until late 1968, when it was renamed ].
]
'''The Victor Talking Machine Company''' (]–]) was an ] ], the leading American producer of ]s and ] and one of the leading phonograph companies in the world at the time. It was headquartered in ].


Established in ], Victor was the largest and most prestigious firm of its kind in the world, best known for its use of the iconic "]" trademark, the design, production and marketing of the popular "Victrola" line of phonographs and the company's extensive catalog of operatic and classical music recordings by world famous artists on the prestigious ] label. After Victor merged with RCA in 1929, the company maintained its eminence as America's foremost producer of records and phonographs until the 1960s.
The company was founded by ], who had previously made phonographs to play ]'s ] records. Some sources also claim Berliner as a co-founder; others say Berliner was never connected with the Victor company, though that may have been part of a ruse by Johnson to defeat the ] lawsuits that had put Berliner Gramophone out of business (in the U.S., but not in Canada, the UK, or Germany) and threatened Johnson's phonograph business. (Zonophone had used patent ruses to defeat Berliner, the inventor of disc records whose technology Zonophone had copied.) In any event, Victor ultimately acquired the remaining assets of Berliner Gramophone; it also acquired Zonophone after defeating it in court.


==Name and logo== == History ==
In 1896, ], the inventor of the ] and disc record, contracted machinist ] to manufacture his inventions.<ref name="gelatt">Gelatt, Roland, ''The Fabulous Phonograph: 1877–1977'', MacMillan, New York, 1954. {{ISBN|0-02-542960-4}}</ref>
]There is some controversy as to how the name came about. Fred Barnum gives various possible origins of the "Victor" name; in "'His Master's Voice' In America", he writes, "One story claims that Johnson considered his first improved Gramophone to be both a scientific and business 'victory.' A second account is that Johnson emerged as the 'Victor' from the lengthy and costly patent litigations involving Berliner and ]'s ]. A third story is that Johnson's partner, Leon Forrest Douglass, derived the word from his wife's name 'Victoria.' Finally, a fourth story is that Johnson took the name from the popular 'Victor' bicycle, which he had admired for its superior engineering. Of these four accounts the first two are the most generally accepted."


=== Name ===
Victor had the rights in the United States and ] to use the famous trademark of the fox terrier ] listening to a Berliner Gramophone. (''See also'' ].) The original painting was by Francis Barraud in 1893, as a memorial to his deceased brother, a London photographer, who willed him his estate including his DC-powered Edison-Bell cylinder Phonograph with a case of cylinders—some home-recorded—and his dog Nipper. Barraud noticed that whenever he played a cylinder recorded by his brother, the little dog would run to the horn, cock his ear and listen intently. Barraud's original depicts Nipper staring intently into the horn of an Edison-Bell while both sit on polished wooden surface. There is some controversy amongst historians as to whether this surface is the top of a table or the lid of the deceased master's coffin. This dispute originated long after Barraud's death and he made no comment during his life as to what the polished wooden surface is supposed to depict, if it depicts anything other than an artistic device for fixing Nipper and the Phonograph in space.
There are different accounts as to how the "Victor" name came about. RCA historian Fred Barnum<ref>{{cite web |title=Preserving the History of RCA Victor |url=http://historiccamdencounty.com/ccnews110.shtml |access-date=10 January 2018 |website=Historiccamdencounty.com}}</ref> gives various possible origins of the name in ''"His Master's Voice" In America'', he writes, "One story claims that Johnson considered his first improved Gramophone to be both a scientific and business 'victory.' A second account is that Johnson emerged as the 'Victor' from the lengthy and costly patent litigations involving Berliner and Frank Seaman's ]. A third story is that Johnson's partner, ], derived the word from his wife's name 'Victoria.' Finally, a fourth story is that Johnson took the name from the popular 'Victor' bicycle, which he had admired for its superior engineering. Of these four accounts, the first two are the most generally accepted."<ref name="HMVIA">Barnum, Fred, "'His Master's Voice' In America", General Electric Co, 1991. {{ISBN|0939766167}}, {{ISBN|978-0939766161}}</ref> The first use of the Victor name was on a letterhead, dated March 28, 1901.<ref>The Talking Machine Review International, Ernie Bayly © 1973 The Gramophone Company Limited</ref>


==== Marketing ====
After several years the painting was still unsold. Since the horn on the Edison-Bell in the painting was black, a friend of Barraud's suggested that he might paint one of the bright brass-belled horns on display in the window at the new Berliner Gramophone shop on ]. The London branch was managed by an American, William Barry Owen. Barraud paid a visit to the branch with a photograph of the painting and asked to borrow a horn. Owen gave Barraud a Berliner Gramophone and asked that he paint it into the picture and then he would purchase the painting. The original painting shows the contours of the Edison-Bell Phonograph beneath the paint of the Gramophone when viewed in the correct light.
], Milan.]]
Herbert Rose Barraud's deceased brother, a London photographer, willed him his estate, including his DC-powered Edison-Bell cylinder phonograph with a case of cylinders and his dog, named ]. Barraud's original painting depicts Nipper staring intently into the horn of an Edison-Bell while both sit on a polished wooden surface. The horn on the Edison-Bell machine was black and after a failed attempt at selling the painting to a cylinder record supplier of Edison Phonographs in the UK, a friend of Barraud's suggested that the painting could be brightened up (and possibly made more marketable) by substituting one of the brass-belled horns on display in the window at the new gramophone shop on ]. The ] in London was founded and managed by an American, William Barry Owen. Barraud paid a visit with a photograph of the painting and asked to borrow a horn. Owen gave Barraud an entire gramophone and asked him to paint it into the picture, offering to buy the result. On close inspection of the painting, the contours of the Edison-Bell phonograph are visible beneath the paint of the gramophone.<ref name="gelatt" />


In 1915, the "His Master's Voice" logo was rendered in immense circular leaded-glass windows in the tower of the ] at Victor's headquarters in Camden, New Jersey. The building still stands today with replica windows installed during ]'s ownership of the plant in its later years. Today, one of the original windows is located at the Smithsonian museum in Washington, D.C.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://historiccamdencounty.com/ccnews158.shtml|title=RCA Nipper Window on Display at Rutgers|website=Historiccamdencounty.com |first1=Hoag |last1=Levins |date=January 2013 |access-date=10 January 2018}}</ref>
The "His Master's Voice" logo as rendered in immense circular leaded-glass panels remains in the 1915 factory building tower, now converted to apartments.


==Acoustical recording era== === Acoustical recording era (1901–1925) ===
] with a "Victrola" ]]] ] with a customized Victrola given to him as a wedding gift by the Victor Company in 1918]]
In the company's early years, Victor issued recordings on the Victor, Monarch and De Luxe labels, with the Victor label on 7-inch records, Monarch on 10-inch records and De Luxe on 12-inch records. De Luxe Special 14-inch records were briefly marketed in 1903–1904. In 1905, all labels and sizes were consolidated into the Victor imprint.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mainspringpress.com/victor1.html|title=VICTOR 78 RECORDS: Evolution of the Victor Talking Machine Company record labels|website=Mainspring Press|access-date=10 January 2018 |archive-date=11 January 2018 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180111165117/http://www.mainspringpress.com/victor1.html }}</ref>
From the start Victor pioneered manufacturing processes and eventually gained notoriety by using artists. In 1901 Victor made a three-track puzzle record (single-sided A-821) and in 1903, a three-step mother-stamper process to produce more stampers and records than previously possible. After increasing the quality of disc records and phonographs, Johnson began an ambitious project to have the most prestigious singers and musicians of the day record for Victor Records, with exclusive agreements where possible. Often these artists demanded fees which the company could not hope to make up from sale of their records. Johnson shrewdly knew that he would get his money's worth in the long run in promotion of the Victor brand name. These new "celebrity" recordings bore red labels, and were marketed as ] records. For many years these recordings were single-sided; only in 1923 did Victor begin making double-sided "Red Seal" records. Many advertisements were printed mentioning by name the greatest names of music in the era, with the statement that they recorded only for Victor Records. As Johnson intended, much of the public assumed from this that Victor Records must be superior to cylinder records.


]
The Victor recordings by ] between 1904–1920 were particularly successful, with those recorded until mid-1916 usually conducted by ] and the remainder conducted by ] and ]. They were often used by retailers to demonstrate Victor phonographs; Caruso's rich powerful low tenor voice highlighted the best range of audio fidelity of the early audio technology while being minimally affected by its defects. Even people who otherwise never listened to ] often owned a record or two of the great voice of Caruso. Caruso and Victor Records did much to boost each other's commercial popularity. He made his final recordings in September 1920, only three months before his final appearances at the ].
Victor recorded the first jazz and blues records ever issued. The Victor Military Band recorded the first recorded blues song, "]", on July 15, 1914, in Camden, New Jersey.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/matrix/detail/1000002984/B-15065-The_Memphis_blues|title=Victor matrix B-15065. The Memphis blues / Victor Military Band |website=Discography of American Historical Recordings|access-date=January 10, 2018}}</ref> In 1917, ] recorded "]".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/matrix/detail/700004406/B-19331-Livery_stable_blues|title=Victor matrix B-19331. Livery stable blues / Original Dixieland Jazz Band |website=Discography of American Historical Recordings|access-date=January 10, 2018}}</ref>


=== Electrical recording era (1925–present) ===
Victor recorded numerous classical musicians, including ], ], ], and ] in a series of recordings at its Camden, New Jersey studios. Rachmaninoff, in particular, became one of the first composer-performers to record extensively; he first made several recordings for ] in 1919, then became an exclusive Victor artist from 1920 to 1942.
]]]
The advent of radio as a home entertainment medium in the early 1920s presented Victor and the entire record industry with new challenges. Not only was music becoming available over the air free of charge, but a live radio broadcast made using high-quality microphones and heard over amplified receivers provided sound that was startlingly more clear and realistic than a contemporary phonograph record. Victor was initially dismissive of the encroachments of radio, but after plummeting sales and much apathy and resistance from the company's senior executives brought the company to the verge of bankruptcy, Victor switched from the acoustical or mechanical method of recording to the new ]-based electrical system developed by ] in 1925. Victor called its version of the improved fidelity recording process "Orthophonic", and marketed a new line of phonographs referred to as "]", scientifically developed by Western Electric to play these new records. Victor's first electrical recordings, issued in the spring of 1925 were not advertised as such; in order to create an extensive catalog of records made by the new process to satisfy anticipated demand, and to allow dealers time to liquidate their stocks of old-style Victrolas, Victor and its longtime rival, ], agreed to keep electrical recording secret until the autumn of 1925. Then, with the company's largest advertising campaign to date, Victor publicly announced the new technology and introduced its new records and the Orthophonic Victrola on November 2, 1925, dubbed "Victor Day".<ref name=gelatt/>


]
Orchestras were at a disadvantage in acoustical recordings, due to the limited frequency range of the recording equipment. Musicians had to gather as closely as possible around the recording horn. Percussion instruments, in particular, were used sparingly since many of them could not be heard on the recordings. However, Victor made numerous recordings with bandmaster ] conducting his own "Pryor's Orchestra" in 1904-06, and Victor staff conductor Walter B. Rogers directing Victor's own "house" orchestras, the Victor Orchestra (for popular works) beginning in 1904 and the Victor Concert Orchestra (for more "classical" literature) beginning in 1907. (A very few 1903-04 14-inch issues are credited to the "Victor Symphony Orchestra"; these may have been conducted by either Pryor or Rogers.) The concert orchestra of ] made several recordings for the company in 1903; these early discs may not have been conducted by Herbert himself, but Victor signed Herbert and his orchestra to a long-term contract in 1911, engaging them to record symphonic and theatre music under Herbert's direction (most of the labels credit "Victor Herbert's Orchestra/Personally directed by Victor Herbert"). Victor also imported early orchestral recordings made by its European affiliates, notably performances by the ] under ] and the ] under ]. Victor expanded its American orchestral recording program by making recordings of the ] conducted by ] and the ] conducted by ] in 1917; Victor's relationship with Stokowski and Philadelphia remained firm for decades. In 1920–21, ] made his first recordings, conducting the ] Orchestra, which was then on an American tour. Victor went on to record the ] with ] and the ] with ] from 1922, and the ] under ] from 1925; Hertz's earliest discs, made at Victor's new ] studios, were the company's last acoustical orchestral sessions.
Victor's first commercial electrical recording was made at the company's Camden, New Jersey studios on February 26, 1925. A group of eight popular Victor artists, ], Frank Banta, ], Albert Campbell, ], John Meyer, ], and ] gathered to record "A Miniature Concert". Several takes were recorded by the old acoustical process, then additional takes were recorded electrically for test purposes. The electrical recordings turned out well, and Victor issued the results that summer as the two sides of twelve inch 78&nbsp;rpm disc, Victor 35753. Victor's first electrical recording to be ''issued'' was Victor 19626, a ten-inch record consisting of two numbers recorded on March 16, 1925, from the ]'s thirty-seventh annual production of the Mask and Wig Club, released in April, 1925. On March 21, 1925, Victor recorded its first electrical ] disc, twelve inch 6502 by pianist ], of works by Chopin and Schubert.<ref name=victorlog1>Victor Recording Book log, pp. 4761 and 4761A.</ref>


=== Post-acquisition (1929–present) ===
The origins of ] as we know it today can be traced to two seminal influences and a remarkable coincidence. ] and the ] are considered the founders of country music and their songs were first captured at an historic recording session in ], ] on August 1, 1927, where ] was the talent scout and sound recordist for Victor Records.
In 1926, Johnson sold his controlling (but not holding) interest in the Victor Company to the banking firms of ] and ], who in turn sold Victor to the ] in 1929.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/sellingsoundscom00suis |url-access=registration |quote=jw seligman victor talking machines. |title=Selling Sounds|last=Suisman|first=David|date=May 31, 2009 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-03337-5|location=] and ], England|pages=|language=en}}</ref>


==List of Victor Records artists==
During the 1920s Victor also released "]" (that is, records recorded by and marketed to ]s).<ref>http://www.pbs.org/jazz/images/exchange/victor-records.jpg</ref> These records were scattered in Victor's regular popular music series until July, 1928 when they started the 38000 series.
{{main article|List of Victor Records artists}}


==Archives==
Emile Berliner emigrated to Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 1900, probably to escape the legal chaos created by his erstwhile "sales manager," Frank Seaman, in the United States, since he still owned his Canadian patents for his lateral disc records. He set up the Berliner Gram-O-Phone Company to merchandise his machines and disc records. The company was eventually controlled by Emile's son, Herbert Berliner. Note that Herbert established his own, essentially competing, record company, the ], also in Montreal. In fact, in 1919 the Compo Company pressed records credited only to "Famous Tenor," which used Victor sides cut by John McCormack; these were quickly withdrawn, to be replaced by the same titles cut by Ernest Hare doing a creditable McCormack impression.
The ] (DAHR) is a continuation of the Encyclopedic Discography of Victor Recordings (EDVR) project by Ted Fagan and William Moran to make a complete discography of all Victor recordings as well as adding the recordings of Columbia, Brunswick and other historic American labels now controlled by ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://victor.library.ucsb.edu|title=Discography of American Historical Recordings |website=UCSB Library |access-date=10 January 2018}}</ref> The Victor archive files are the main source of information for this project.


In 2011, the ] and Victor catalog owner Sony Music Entertainment launched the National Jukebox offering streaming audio of more than 10,000 pre-1925 recorded works for listening by the general public; the majority of these recordings have not been widely available for over 100 years.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-buzz/post/library-of-congress-sony-launch-streaming-national-jukebox/2011/05/10/AFJ4cJjG_blog.html |url-access=subscription |date=May 10, 2011 |first1=Justin |last1=Jouvenal |title=Library of Congress, Sony launch streaming 'National Jukebox'|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=10 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402123204/https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-buzz/post/library-of-congress-sony-launch-streaming-national-jukebox/2011/05/10/AFJ4cJjG_blog.html|archive-date=2 April 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/jukebox/about|title=About the National Jukebox |publisher=Library of Congress|access-date=10 January 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180110102801/https://www.loc.gov/jukebox/about |archive-date=10 January 2018 }}</ref>
From 1919 to 1921 Compo used the VTM(C) recording facilities for cutting records; in 1921 Compo set up their own recording facilities in Montreal. Herbert Berliner recorded extensively in Montreal, for both VTM(C) and Compo...to the point that his Victor-issued sides outnumbered US recordings. Needless to say, this did not make the U.S. Victor firm at all happy, and Herbert was quickly fired to be replaced by his brother in 1921.


==See also==
A few years later, Victor acquired its Canadian counterpart, Berliner Gramophone of Canada, in 1924. Interestingly enough, when Victor introduced electric records in 1925, the Canadian firm immediately announced "the new V.E. Process" records; this was probably because the Compo Company had begun issuing electric recordings, promoted as such, in late January 1925. As a result, a special record, "You and I" by Jack Shilkret, promoting "the new V.E. Process" was issued; this was Victor 19571, with the Canadian promo version pairing acoustic (as issued in the U.S.) and electric (apparently recorded in Montreal) versions of 19571-A.
* {{annotated link|Eldridge R. Johnson}}
* {{annotated link|Grammy Award}}
* {{annotated link|His Master's Voice}}
* {{annotated link|Johnson Victrola Museum}}
* ]
* {{annotated link|Nipper}}
* {{annotated link|RCA Camden}}
* {{annotated link|RCA Records}}
* {{annotated link|RCA Red Seal}}
* {{annotated link|RCA Victrola}}


==Further reading==
==Electrical recording era==
* Bryan, Martin F. ''Report to the Phonothèque Québécoise on the Search for Archival Documents of Berliner Gram-O-Phone Co., Victor Talking Machine Co., R.C.A. Victor Co. (Montréal), 1899–1972''. Further augmented ed. Montréal: Phonothèque Québécoise, 1994. 19, p.
].]]
In 1924, mostly under pressure from radio and ] and Autograph's owner ], Victor switched from the old acoustical or mechanical method of recording sound to the new ] based electrical system developed by ]. Victor called their version of the improved fidelity recording process "Orthophonic", and sold a line of new designs of phonographs to play these improved records, called "]". The large top-of- the-line "Credenza" models of Orthophonic Victrolas had a 1.8&nbsp;m (6 foot) long horn coiled inside the cabinet, and are often considered the high point of the development of the commercial wind-up phonograph, offering audio fidelity seldom matched by most home electric phonographs until some 30 years later. They were introduced on "Victor Day", November 2, 1925.

Victor's first commercial electrical recording was made at the company's Camden, New Jersey studios on February 26, 1925. A group of popular Victor artists, including ], Frank Banta, ], Albert Campbell, Frank Croxton, John Meyer, and ] gathered to record "A Miniature Concert." Several takes were recorded by the old acoustic process, then additional takes were recorded electrically for test purposes. The electric recordings turned out well, and Victor issued the results that summer as two sides of one 12-inch 78 rpm record. Victor quickly recorded the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Stokowski in a series of electrical recordings, initially at its Camden, New Jersey studios and then in Philadelphia's Academy of Music. Among Stokowski's first electrical recordings were performances of ''Danse Macabre'' by ] and ''Marche Slave'' by ]. ] and the ] made a series of recordings for Victor, beginning in 1925, first in Victor's Chicago studios and then in Orchestra Hall. The ] conducted by ] made a few acoustical recordings early in 1925, then switched to electrical recordings in Oakland, California, which continued until 1930. Within a few years, ] began a long series of recordings with the ] in Boston's Symphony Hall. Toscanini made his first Victor electrical recordings with the ] in 1929.

In 1926, Johnson sold his controlling (but not holding) interest in Victor to the banking firm of Seligman & Spyer, who in 1929 sold to the ], which then became known as the '''Radio-Victor Division of the Radio Corporation of America''' later '''RCA Victor'''. (''See ] and ] for later history of the Victor brand name.'')

==Victor (Japan)==
The Victor Company of Japan (]), founded in 1927, severed its ties to RCA Victor at the start of ], and is still one of the oldest and most successful Japanese record labels as well as an electronics giant. It also retains the Victor name in commercial operations in Japan.

]]]
]

==The Victrola==
]

In September 1906, Johnson and his engineers designed a new line of phonographs with the turntable and amplifying horn tucked away inside a wooden cabinet. This was not done for reasons of audio fidelity, but for visual aesthetics. The intention was to produce a phonograph that looked less like a piece of machinery and more like a piece of furniture. These internal horn machines, trademarked with the name '''Victrola''', were first marketed to the public in August of that year and were an immediate hit. Soon an extensive line of Victrolas was marketed, ranging from small tabletop models selling for $15, through many sizes and designs of cabinets intended to go with the decor of middle-class homes in the $100 to $250 range, up to $600 Chippendale and Queen Anne-style cabinets of fine wood with gold trim designed to look at home in elegant mansions. Victrolas became by far the most popular brand of home phonograph, and sold in great numbers until the end of the 1920s. RCA Victor continued to market phonographs with the "Victrola" name until the early 1970s.
] with Victrola designation]]
== See also ==
*]
*]


==References== ==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Commonscat|Victor Records}}
{{Commonscat|Victor phonographs}}
{{reflist}}


== External links == ==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*
* * Victor masters in the
* *
* *
* *
* {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190616165348/https://findingaids.hagley.org/xtf/view?docId=ead%2F2069.xml |date=June 16, 2019 }} (1887–1983) About the history of RCA and Victor
*
* (1878–1960)
* on the Internet Archive's
* , Victor Talking Machine Company, Camden, NJ., c. 1924. (from )
{{Authority control}}


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Latest revision as of 05:57, 15 November 2024

Former American record and phonograph manufacturer "Victrola" redirects here. For other uses, see Victrola (disambiguation).
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Record label
Victor Talking Machine Company
"His Master's Voice" logo with Nipper
Founded1901; 123 years ago (1901)
FounderEldridge R. Johnson, Emile Berliner
StatusAcquired by RCA in 1929; known today as RCA Records
GenreClassical, blues, popular, jazz, country, bluegrass, folk
Country of originUnited States
LocationCamden, New Jersey

The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer, incorporated in 1901. Victor was an independent enterprise until 1929 when it was purchased by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and became the RCA Victor Division of the Radio Corporation of America until late 1968, when it was renamed RCA Records.

Established in Camden, New Jersey, Victor was the largest and most prestigious firm of its kind in the world, best known for its use of the iconic "His Master's Voice" trademark, the design, production and marketing of the popular "Victrola" line of phonographs and the company's extensive catalog of operatic and classical music recordings by world famous artists on the prestigious Red Seal label. After Victor merged with RCA in 1929, the company maintained its eminence as America's foremost producer of records and phonographs until the 1960s.

History

In 1896, Emile Berliner, the inventor of the gramophone and disc record, contracted machinist Eldridge R. Johnson to manufacture his inventions.

Name

There are different accounts as to how the "Victor" name came about. RCA historian Fred Barnum gives various possible origins of the name in "His Master's Voice" In America, he writes, "One story claims that Johnson considered his first improved Gramophone to be both a scientific and business 'victory.' A second account is that Johnson emerged as the 'Victor' from the lengthy and costly patent litigations involving Berliner and Frank Seaman's Zonophone. A third story is that Johnson's partner, Leon Douglass, derived the word from his wife's name 'Victoria.' Finally, a fourth story is that Johnson took the name from the popular 'Victor' bicycle, which he had admired for its superior engineering. Of these four accounts, the first two are the most generally accepted." The first use of the Victor name was on a letterhead, dated March 28, 1901.

Marketing

Victor IV gramophone. Museo Nazionale Scienza e Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci, Milan.

Herbert Rose Barraud's deceased brother, a London photographer, willed him his estate, including his DC-powered Edison-Bell cylinder phonograph with a case of cylinders and his dog, named Nipper. Barraud's original painting depicts Nipper staring intently into the horn of an Edison-Bell while both sit on a polished wooden surface. The horn on the Edison-Bell machine was black and after a failed attempt at selling the painting to a cylinder record supplier of Edison Phonographs in the UK, a friend of Barraud's suggested that the painting could be brightened up (and possibly made more marketable) by substituting one of the brass-belled horns on display in the window at the new gramophone shop on Maiden Lane. The Gramophone Company in London was founded and managed by an American, William Barry Owen. Barraud paid a visit with a photograph of the painting and asked to borrow a horn. Owen gave Barraud an entire gramophone and asked him to paint it into the picture, offering to buy the result. On close inspection of the painting, the contours of the Edison-Bell phonograph are visible beneath the paint of the gramophone.

In 1915, the "His Master's Voice" logo was rendered in immense circular leaded-glass windows in the tower of the Victrola cabinet building at Victor's headquarters in Camden, New Jersey. The building still stands today with replica windows installed during RCA's ownership of the plant in its later years. Today, one of the original windows is located at the Smithsonian museum in Washington, D.C.

Acoustical recording era (1901–1925)

Enrico Caruso with a customized Victrola given to him as a wedding gift by the Victor Company in 1918

In the company's early years, Victor issued recordings on the Victor, Monarch and De Luxe labels, with the Victor label on 7-inch records, Monarch on 10-inch records and De Luxe on 12-inch records. De Luxe Special 14-inch records were briefly marketed in 1903–1904. In 1905, all labels and sizes were consolidated into the Victor imprint.

A Victor Talking Machine

Victor recorded the first jazz and blues records ever issued. The Victor Military Band recorded the first recorded blues song, "The Memphis Blues", on July 15, 1914, in Camden, New Jersey. In 1917, The Original Dixieland Jazz Band recorded "Livery Stable Blues".

Electrical recording era (1925–present)

Victor "scroll" label used from 1926 to 1934, featuring the company's house band directed by Nathaniel Shilkret

The advent of radio as a home entertainment medium in the early 1920s presented Victor and the entire record industry with new challenges. Not only was music becoming available over the air free of charge, but a live radio broadcast made using high-quality microphones and heard over amplified receivers provided sound that was startlingly more clear and realistic than a contemporary phonograph record. Victor was initially dismissive of the encroachments of radio, but after plummeting sales and much apathy and resistance from the company's senior executives brought the company to the verge of bankruptcy, Victor switched from the acoustical or mechanical method of recording to the new microphone-based electrical system developed by Western Electric in 1925. Victor called its version of the improved fidelity recording process "Orthophonic", and marketed a new line of phonographs referred to as "Orthophonic Victrolas", scientifically developed by Western Electric to play these new records. Victor's first electrical recordings, issued in the spring of 1925 were not advertised as such; in order to create an extensive catalog of records made by the new process to satisfy anticipated demand, and to allow dealers time to liquidate their stocks of old-style Victrolas, Victor and its longtime rival, Columbia Records, agreed to keep electrical recording secret until the autumn of 1925. Then, with the company's largest advertising campaign to date, Victor publicly announced the new technology and introduced its new records and the Orthophonic Victrola on November 2, 1925, dubbed "Victor Day".

The "VE" symbol, indicating a Victor electrical recording

Victor's first commercial electrical recording was made at the company's Camden, New Jersey studios on February 26, 1925. A group of eight popular Victor artists, Billy Murray, Frank Banta, Henry Burr, Albert Campbell, Frank Croxton, John Meyer, Monroe Silver, and Rudy Wiedoeft gathered to record "A Miniature Concert". Several takes were recorded by the old acoustical process, then additional takes were recorded electrically for test purposes. The electrical recordings turned out well, and Victor issued the results that summer as the two sides of twelve inch 78 rpm disc, Victor 35753. Victor's first electrical recording to be issued was Victor 19626, a ten-inch record consisting of two numbers recorded on March 16, 1925, from the University of Pennsylvania's thirty-seventh annual production of the Mask and Wig Club, released in April, 1925. On March 21, 1925, Victor recorded its first electrical Red Seal disc, twelve inch 6502 by pianist Alfred Cortot, of works by Chopin and Schubert.

Post-acquisition (1929–present)

In 1926, Johnson sold his controlling (but not holding) interest in the Victor Company to the banking firms of JW Seligman and Speyer & Co., who in turn sold Victor to the Radio Corporation of America in 1929.

List of Victor Records artists

Main article: List of Victor Records artists

Archives

The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a continuation of the Encyclopedic Discography of Victor Recordings (EDVR) project by Ted Fagan and William Moran to make a complete discography of all Victor recordings as well as adding the recordings of Columbia, Brunswick and other historic American labels now controlled by Sony Music Entertainment. The Victor archive files are the main source of information for this project.

In 2011, the Library of Congress and Victor catalog owner Sony Music Entertainment launched the National Jukebox offering streaming audio of more than 10,000 pre-1925 recorded works for listening by the general public; the majority of these recordings have not been widely available for over 100 years.

See also

  • Eldridge R. Johnson – American businessman and engineer
  • Grammy Award – American award for achievements in musicPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
  • His Master's Voice – Painting, British record label, and international trademark
  • Johnson Victrola Museum – State park in Delaware, United StatesPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
  • List of phonograph manufacturers
  • Nipper – Canine mascot of HMV, RCA, and the Victor Talking Machine Company (1884–1895)
  • RCA Camden – international record label; budget imprint of RCA VictorPages displaying wikidata descriptions as a fallback
  • RCA Records – American record label
  • RCA Red Seal – US record labelPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
  • RCA Victrola – American classical music label; budget label operated by RCA VictorPages displaying wikidata descriptions as a fallback

Further reading

  • Bryan, Martin F. Report to the Phonothèque Québécoise on the Search for Archival Documents of Berliner Gram-O-Phone Co., Victor Talking Machine Co., R.C.A. Victor Co. (Montréal), 1899–1972. Further augmented ed. Montréal: Phonothèque Québécoise, 1994. 19, p.

References

  1. ^ Gelatt, Roland, The Fabulous Phonograph: 1877–1977, MacMillan, New York, 1954. ISBN 0-02-542960-4
  2. "Preserving the History of RCA Victor". Historiccamdencounty.com. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  3. Barnum, Fred, "'His Master's Voice' In America", General Electric Co, 1991. ISBN 0939766167, ISBN 978-0939766161
  4. The Talking Machine Review International, Ernie Bayly © 1973 The Gramophone Company Limited
  5. Levins, Hoag (January 2013). "RCA Nipper Window on Display at Rutgers". Historiccamdencounty.com. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  6. "VICTOR 78 RECORDS: Evolution of the Victor Talking Machine Company record labels". Mainspring Press. Archived from the original on January 11, 2018. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  7. "Victor matrix B-15065. The Memphis blues / Victor Military Band". Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  8. "Victor matrix B-19331. Livery stable blues / Original Dixieland Jazz Band". Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  9. Victor Recording Book log, pp. 4761 and 4761A.
  10. Suisman, David (May 31, 2009). Selling Sounds. Cambridge, MA and London, England: Harvard University Press. pp. 268. ISBN 978-0-674-03337-5. jw seligman victor talking machines.
  11. "Discography of American Historical Recordings". UCSB Library. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  12. Jouvenal, Justin (May 10, 2011). "Library of Congress, Sony launch streaming 'National Jukebox'". Washington Post. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  13. "About the National Jukebox". Library of Congress. Archived from the original on January 10, 2018. Retrieved January 10, 2018.

External links

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