page_title: Edison Bell
section_title: Edison Bell transitions from cylinders to discs
hierarchical_section_title: Edison Bell / History / Edison Bell transitions from cylinders to discs
caption_attribution_description: Edison Bell Velvet Face catalog# 1306, "The Wedding Glide", composed by L. Hirsch, circa 1922.
context_page_description: Edison Bell was an English company that was the first distributor and an early manufacturer of gramophones and gramophone records. The company survived through several incarnations, becoming a top producer of budget records in England through the early 1930s until, after it was absorbed by Decca in 1932, production of various Edison Bell labels ceased.
context_section_description: In 1908 Edison Bell introduced the "Discaphone", a machine that would play both laterally and vertically-cut disc records.  This model was made into the 1920s, and has the distinction of being one of the few gramophones of the era with a British-made motor mechanism.  The laterally-cut Edison Bell disc label first appeared May 1908.  These had a diameter of 10.5 inches and were until the original series was discontinued November 1912 just shy of 500 issues.  A few months after the 1908 introduction of the Edison Bell disc records, another disc record label was introduced.  Phonadisc Records were vertically cut, and were smaller in diameter at 8.75 inches.  That year Edison Bell consolidated a share of the cylinder record market by acquiring rival cylinder company Sterling and Hunting. Ltd.  Edison Bell cylinders were marketed under the several names, including Grand Concert, Indestructible Ebony, London, Popular, and Standard.
  The Edison Bell company went into bankruptcy in 1909, and manufacture of Edison Bell gramophones and records was taken over by J.E. Hough, Ltd. but in such manner that the general public was highly unlikely to notice.  Edison Bell as an entity was formally liquidated in 1910.  In 1912 the Edison Bell Winner label was introduced by a Hough syndicate named The Winner Record Co., with catalog numbers beginning at #2000.  This label was aimed at the budget market and remained active until 1935.   Meanwhile production of cylinder records ceased in 1914. A later gramophone model made by Edison Bell which was popular was the "Handephon", a portable gramophone.
  In the early 1920s Edison Bell sought to develop a substantial catalog of "serious" music, and selected conductor Joe Batten (1885-1955) to lead the effort.
  Edison Bell introduced the Edison Bell Velvet Face record label in 1922, which featured uncommon works of classical music.  A few of the recordings originated from Gennett Records, but most of the recordings were produced by Edison Bell's recording studios. Notable among these was a 1925 version of Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius conducted by Batten, embodying about three-quarters of the score.  This label was discontinued in 1927.
  In 1924 Edison Bell made an early attempt at audio-visual entertainment when they introduced the "Picturegram" gramophone.  This machine was designed to play small kiddie records while a scroll displaying pictures moved in a compartment located behind the record.
caption: Edison Bell Velvet Face record label
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