The Operaphone: a Piano-Shaped Gramophone

The late 19th century through to the 1920s is often referred to as the “Golden Age of the Piano”. In 1909 over 350,000 pianos were sold in the U.S. alone. That’s approximately a new piano that year for every one in 60 households! But things were to change with the coming of the gramophone.

It started in 1877 with Edison’s cylinder format phonograph, shortly followed in 1887 by Émile Berliner’s disc based gramophone.

Gramophones—or “talking machines,” as they were widely known in America—experienced a massive surge in popularity during the 1910s. Despite significant global setbacks, such as the Great Depression and two World Wars, sales proved remarkably resilient. By the mid-20th century, the gramophone had transcended its status as a luxury novelty to become a prominent feature in virtually every household.

So sales of pianos were starting to fall, replaced by the new rising star—the gramophone, which in 1925 sold well over 1.5 million units in the U.S. alone. It was only a matter of time before someone built a gramophone that resembled a piano. Enter the Operaphone…

The Operaphone Manufacturing Corporation was incorporated in New York in 1914 by John Fletcher a professional musician and amateur inventor. The company initially produced hugely popular and affordable 8-inch records. Discs were 35 cents (about $11 today). Most other companies produced 10- or 12-inch discs.

Operaphone records were made so that the needle/stylus moved up and down (vertical-cut) rather than side-to-side (lateral-cut). The latter eventually became the industry standard.

Gramophones

Operaphone also marketed gramophones on which the discs could be played. Its initial models were tabletop players, and pretty basic costing around $10 (equivalent to over $300 today!). However, like some other manufacturers, the company saw the potential in making gramophones in grand piano shaped cases, and several models were introduced. It is not clear whether these players were produced in-house or manufacture was contracted out.

The design utilised the piano’s “fallboard” to control the player’s volume—opening it, and also adjusting the louvres allowed more sound to be heard. Lifting the “piano” lid reveals the turntable and dedicated space for record and needle storage.

An Operaphone grand piano gramophone was typically 55cm wide, 85cm deep and 90cm tall, and the cabinet constructed from either walnut or mahogany.

We’ve highlighted the Operaphone in this article because a couple of examples have appeared recently, and one was sold at auction this month for £360 ($485) by Denhams Auctioneers, Sussex, UK. In recent years, good quality examples have sold for up to $650.

Operaphone wasn’t the only company producing grand-piano shaped gramophones. Other examples included:

In 1918 the company was reorganised as the Operaphone Co. Inc., and moved to producing 10-inch vertical-cut discs. In 1919 it switched to a universal-cut format (compatible with vertical or lateral cut players), but in 1921 it ceased trading.