Category: Analogue Technology

Another Wind-up?

Published on by Liv
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Gramophone, Hanbury Hall

I came across this beauty in a large Georgian stately home that is open to public and run by the National Trust. I couldn’t help but admire the vibrant green loudspeaker: it’s like a curious, giant leaved plant, sitting there, on the corner table. There was pile of 78s, the winding handle was all set up and a record was waiting in place on the turntable.

No doubt the occupants of the house during the early 20th century would have listened to music on this gramophone. Did they have parties with dancing or musical evenings listening in contemplation?  

The Wind-up Gramophone

Published on by Liv

When I first moved in to a tenement flat in Edinburgh my neighbours were a married couple who had lived there many years. She had been born in the flat in 1932 and they had come back to live there after he retired from the merchant navy. One day they were having a lively discussion on their way down the stair as to whether they should throw away an old wind-up gramophone or take it to a charity shop. He didn’t think anyone would would want it and was intent on putting it in the bin. Luckily he met me coming up the stair and that’s how I acquired this lovely old machine complete with a set of 78s. It’s wonderful – no electricity needed – so when the fossil fuels run out I’ll be listening to my 78s. I’ve got a wind-up torch so all I need is a wind-up internet!

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