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History of the manufacturer  

Marconi Co. (Marconiphone, Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Co. Ltd.), GB (not tubes - see also HMV His Master's Voice)

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Name: Marconi Co. (Marconiphone, Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Co. Ltd.), GB (not tubes - see also HMV His Master's Voice)    (GB)  
Abbreviation: marconi
Products: Model types
Summary:

Marconi, Marconiphone etc.:
To avoid the existing mess in the literature (there are different, contradicting manuf.names given for the same model!), here are all Marconi products concentrated, regardles whether they were made under the name Marconi, Marconiphone, Marconi Wireless, Marconi Scientific Instruments, and so on.

The Wireless Telegraph and Signal Company became Marconi Company near the end of the 19th century. A Department of this Society (Marconiphone) produced domestic equipments from 1920 and was sold to the HMV in 1929. The HMV became part of Columbia Gramophone Company that acquired therefore the right to use the Marconiphone brand and the logo G.Marconi. The Gramophone Company became EMI from 1931 to 1956 and then became part of the THORN group. Therefore all the production between 1929 and 1979 has nothing to do with the Marconi Company. In 1979 the Marconi Company bought back the marks Marconiphone and G.Marconi.

(Marconi; GB: Vertretung Schweiz: Hug & Co.; Basel + Zürich: - siehe auch His Master's Voice. Lautsprecher GV = Telion SA; Lausanne [3331451]. Thali bringt die Marken HMV und Marconi etwas durcheinander. Hier ist diese Einteilung dennoch belassen, damit Sie ein Schema wirklich finden.)

History:

Initially Marconi Scientific Instruments, Soho, started to make receivers for the amateur market, but in 1922 the "Marconiphone" department was set up at Chelmsford. in 1925 it became "Marconiphone Co.Ltd.",who moved their headquarters to Sterling´s premises at Tottenham court Rd. Production was then mainly at Dagenham. Altogether there were about 1500 of Marconis Associated Companies!
Ref.: Geddes/Bussey, "The Setmakers".

Marconi Co. never produced Valves/Tubes: - see Marconi-Osram.
See Tyne, "Saga of the Vacuum Tube", page 372: "It cannot be emphasized too strongly that despite the markings on valves used by them, Marconi Co. never made valves." Here some details:
Until 1919 Edison Swan Electric Co. Ltd. (Brand Ediswan) produces mainly for Marconi. In 1919 Marconi and GEC are founding the Marconi-Osram Valve Co. Ltd. This company does not produce valves but does the engineering and designing.

From 1928 Ediswan, BTH and Metrovick join their activities in valves (tubes) and form the "Associated Electrical Industries (AEI) but Ediswan does the production for all three companies. In 1960 AEI and Thorn Electrical Industries Ltd. form the Thorn-AEI Radio Valves & Tubes Ltd. and by that the brand Brimar is merged too.
Ref.: "Radios von gestern", pages 215, 216.

 


Some models:
Country Year Name 1st Tube Notes
GB  32 521 MS4   
GB  45 676 KTW63   
GB  37/38 567 W42  Similar to the HMV 495 radiogram. Record player Deck: Arm is labelled G Marconi. ... 
GB  37 All-Wave Auto-Radiogram 367 VMP4G  Automatic radiogram. Similar to the HMV 498 radiogram. 
GB  41/42 830 KTW61   
GB  37 347 VMP4G  Similar to the HMV 496 table radio. See also the Belgian HMV 859 table radio.  
GB  31/32 536 MS4   
GB  33 35 (AC) MS4B  See also the DC version - both possibly only for export. 
GB  37/38 559 W42  Magic eye tuning indicator. A similar chassis is fitted to Marconiphone 557 table radio an... 
GB  45 816 [AC] KTW63  7-valve, AC-powered, superhet with RF stage and Magic Eye indicator. Also available in ... 
GB  45 819 KTW63   
GB  39 874 X65  Early receivers had a KT63 output valve, after serial number A3-13411 a KT61 output valve ... 

[rmxhdet-en]

Further details for this manufacturer by the members (rmfiorg):

tbn_logomarconyzomaletaku.jpg
Logo 1936tbn_gb_marconi_1936_logo.jpg
Logo in 1933.tbn_gb_marconi_logo_in1933.jpg
July 14, 1923 The Wireless World & Radio Review page xiitbn_gb_marconi_2-valve_v2_radio.jpg
Amplion Australia sold Marconi receivers in 1926. From the “Sydney Mail”,(NSW), November 10, 1926tbn_aus_amplion_marconi_ad_1925~~1.jpg
tbn_gb_marconi_logo.jpg
1930s Marconiphone Art Deco advertisementtbn_gb_marconiphone_deco_advert.jpg
Stock prospect published by Munroe & Munroe in 1903 to advertise Marconi Stocktbn_us_marconi_stock_prospect_munroe_et_munroe_1903.jpg
Marconi's Chelmsford Works, from 1903 stock prospecttbn_us_marconi_stock_prospect_munroe_et_munroe_chelmsford_works_1903.jpg
Source: Magyar Rádió Újság, 1924.tbn_gb_marconi_50year_mru_1924.jpg
Source: Magyar Rádió Újság, 1924.tbn_gb_marconi_50year_mru_1924_1.jpg
World Radio Vol VI No 151 15 June 1928tbn_gb_marconi_valves_public.jpg
Source: Pesti Hírlap, 1930.tbn_gb_marconi_1930_withmarconi.jpg

Forum contributions about this manufacturer/brand
Marconi Co. (Marconiphone, Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Co. Ltd.), GB (not tubes - see also HMV His Master's Voice)
Threads: 2 | Posts: 8
Hits: 2424     Replies: 0
More information needed for 33 Marcon-HMV models
Ernst Erb
29.Apr.11
  1

Howard Craven was so kind to analyse the different models of UK Marconiphone and HMV radios and he wrote to me: "Fortunately UK Marconiphone and HMV radios are well documented up to 1945 so it was fairly straightforward to tidy up the database. ... I have spent several days tidying up Marconiphone, HMV and Columbia models up to 1945 in the RMOrg database and apart from 8 duplicates and 33 remaining unidentified Marconi models the job is complete. At the start of the exercise, there were a lot of unidentified Marconi models, these entries were sourced from Marconi schematics found in the "Thali Schemasammlung", the problem was that many of the model numbers on the schematics related to HMV and Columbia products as well as Marconiphone but many of them have been successfully reconciled with other documentation, changed to the correct brand and completed."

After his job, I cleared the 8 duplicates by moving the schematics and pictures to the first entered model which I completed with data I found in the new entires if needed.

Now I list the 33 models here for which we would like to get more identification for. They may well be export models only:

35 DC  and the AC version.

37 etc.

I only list the others here - but probably all could be completed a bit by looking at the schematic:
39 twice - perhaps one AC, the other DC (in the schematic together with 239, 276, 290 and 291)
47, 234, 237, 239 var, 290 var, 291 var, 324, 334, 344, 472, 502, 563, 580, 660, 676, 801, 812, 816, 819, 820, 1303, R15, R35, R39, R7A, R9A, RE17 and RE57.

Helpers are welcome!

 
Hits: 6285     Replies: 6
English Marconiphone
Mario Coelho
24.Dec.05
  1 Dear Friends

I've here some models to upload from Marconiphone Co.(GB)

By mistake they were uploded in Marconiphone USA.
That's because only later I notice that there are more than one Marconiphone Co. It was not clear when I had to choose which one was the right one.

 Ex: In Rmorg we can see one Marconiphone (GB) with 0 models . Nevertheless we can go further by searching in Marconi manufacturers GB. Then we can see 193 Marconiphone GB models.

Well, there are no adress. I've one: Marconiphone Co. , Ltd., Hayes, MIddlesex
  
And ,why this is not presented as one manufacturer?

What have I to do to add this information?

Best regards

Mário
Georg Richter
24.Dec.05
  2 Mario,

please look at

http://www.radiomuseum.org/m/marconi_gb_de_noindex_1.html

for the British Marconi(phone)s.

Kind Regards
Georg
Mario Coelho
25.Dec.05
  3 Thank you Georg for your reply.

In my article I wrote that I had already found the way :
"Nevertheless we can go further by searching in Marconi manufacturers GB".


My doubt is :  Why must be Marconi Co,(GB) ?
The model is Market by "Marconiphone Co Ltd." not by "Marconi Co".

Gruss

Mário

Georg Richter
25.Dec.05
  4 Mario,

here "Marconi Co., GB (no tubes)" is the melting pot ;-)

" Marconi, Marconiphone etc.:
To avoid the existing mess in the literature (there are different, contradicting manuf.names given for the same model!), here are all Marconi products concentrated, regardles whether they were made under the name Marconi, Marconiphone, Marconi Wireless, Marconi Scientific Instruments, and so on."

Marconi Wireless Co. 1904
The Marconi Publishing Co. 1915
The Marconi Int.Code Co.Ltd. 1919
Marconi Scientific Instr. Co.Ltd. 1922
Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Co 1922
Marconiphone Co.Ltd. - London 1929
The Marconiphone Co.Ltd. 1930
(The Marconi Co.Ltd.-Chelmsford 1984)

http://www.classicwireless.btinternet.co.uk/marconib.htm :

"The first incarnation was as the Wireless Telegraph Co Ltd, Chelmsford from 1922. Between 1922 and 1929 the company traded as the Marconiphone Co. It then became the Gramophone Co Ltd of Hayes as part of the EMI group from 1931. By this time it was a name on the cabinet of a chassis also shared by the HMV company, who placed the same chassis into a their cabinet."

Hope that helps.

Kind Regards,
Georg

Konrad Birkner † 12.08.2014
26.Dec.05
  5 Hi Mario,
to Georges answer I have to add:

Please look and read
http://www.radiomuseum.org/dsp_hersteller_detail.cfm?company_id=6437

where I explained why we had chosen that solution (to concentrate everything under Marconi).
It is centainly not the easiest way, but the safest way to research and recover such models.
Thats our main concern.

If models are scattered around due to the careless naming policy of some manufacturers, ad and catalogue writers, dealers, agents, magazine writers and so on, it is a hell of a mess to put order in it. And nobody really can draw a complete picture of the dozens of Marconi branches, subsidiaries, connections,derivates and trade names.

Above mentioned address is also found in Hill, RadioRadio and well known, but it wont help here. It was a trading establishment, not the manufacturers address, as far as I know. But we can mention it of course at the manuf. page.

Anyway thanks to everybody.
KoBi
Konrad Birkner † 12.08.2014
26.Dec.05
  6 Hi Mario,

Just make a change suggestion for Your a.m. models. For naming please refer to the existing listing.

Thank You,
KoBi
Mario Coelho
26.Dec.05
  7 Thank you for your explanations.


Ex:MARCONIPHONE T18DA
 
In this model I try to change (in suggest change) the manufacturer Marconi Co., GB (notubes)  to Marconiphone Co. , but no way.
Can you do it?
Anyway thanks

Gruss

Mário
 
Marconi Co. (Marconiphone, Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Co. Ltd.), GB (not tubes - see also HMV His Master's Voice)
End of forum contributions about this manufacturer/brand

  

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