An Unexpected Windfall!

[musiklava79]

SENOLA PORTABLE WIND-UP GRAMOPHONE (Part 1)

The Gods must be smiling on me! The last week had brought a bounty of record players for me. While one was the Pioneer that I received from Mr.Shafic, the other was a huge windfall for me!!

The make is Senola, a music company that was based in the then city of Calcutta (now Kolkata) since the 1930's or earlier. The information is either unavailable or sketchy but I can safely say that its a rare find indeed as the company had become defunct sometime after 78 RPM shellac records went out of fashion. More about Senola later.

This is a very vintage wind-up gramophone that I picked up from an old radio repair shop. This machine was lying in the loft of this shop for a great many years. Although the machine looked quite decrepit in appearance, all the parts appeared to be intact and everything seemed to be untouched as there were no visible score or scuff marks on any of the screws. The machine was totally distended and the shop owner informed me that the winding spring was probably broken or needed re-setting. He did not try to repair it. The sound box worked and sounded alright. One could hear the sound very clearly when the bottom part was tapped at the point where the needle is affixed. The sound box is Swiss made and this is stamped on the part. The rexine cover was frayed and torn, the nickel plating inside was beginning to fade and there was rust/oxidation of other parts as well. Rust was evident in the cover hinge and the clasp lock. The wooden gramophone body and cover frame was intact and the timber seemed to be of good quality as all the corner joints had fine dove-tail joints of excellent workmanship. Only the cover had caved in slightly but did not seem the worse for wear. A closer look revealed that it was a piece of thick cardboard/hardboard. This can easily be substituted with plyboard.

There is going to be a long process for restoring this machine and plenty of time and energy will have to be devoted to this project without losing patience at any stage!

Here are some photographs of the gramophone.



















The sound box. Swiss made!



The winding handle.



Excellent carpentry/workmanship. Note the dovetail joint!
​

 

[musiklava79]

SENOLA PORTABLE WIND-UP GRAMOPHONE (Part 2)

About Senola Senola or the Senola Musical Products Co. was established sometime around the late 1920s or early 1930s and were primarily into producing and selling 78 RPM shellac gramophone records. Production of gramophone players were a natural corollary of the business. The company established a good reputation in the erstwhile undivided Bengal , Assam and Orissa. They had a full-time recording studio which could be described as State-of-the-art in present times. Senola was a competitor of other record labels like Columbia, Odeon, HMV, and the Calcutta based Hindusthan Records, Megaphone, Twin, New Theatre and so on. These labels will be familiar to members who are from the present day Bengal as will be most of the singers. Artistes like K.L.Saighal, Suprabha Sarkar, Kanan Devi, the brothers Dhananjay and Pankaj Bhattacharya, Tarapada Chakrabarty, Bhupen Hazarika, Dwijen Mukherjee, Manna Dey were among many who sang for this label. The two eminent poets/singers , both known as rebel poets Kazi Nazrul Islam of Bengal and Bishnu Rabha of Assam also recited/sang under the Senola label. Almost all the Calcutta based record labels did their own recording while the records were pressed at the Gramophone Company of India factory. Perhaps the reason for Senola going bust was because of the fact the Gramophone Company decided to stop production of 78 RPM shellac records around early 1970and Senola did not have Plan B!



A Senola record paper sleeve cover front



A Senola record paper sleeve cover back. Notice the gramophone player!



This is what I also found when I hunted up the Senola record(s)!
​

 

[reubensm]

holy cow!!

God bless you!! This is not a windfall, this is a coup!!

what a find...reminds me about the stories my dad told me about the gramaphone he had back in the 1930s and 1940s, during his childhood days. His description was similar. His was HMV.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Ah, sweet

As discussed with reubensm, on another thread, I used something very like this, as a child, on the regular occasions when the Radiogram was awaiting repair or a new valve.

 

[shafic]

Good find!! A vintage beauty!!

 

[hildebrand]

SENOLA PORTABLE WIND-UP GRAMOPHONE (Part 2)

About Senola Senola or the Senola Musical Products Co. was established sometime around the late 1920s or early 1930s and were primarily into producing and selling 78 RPM shellac gramophone records. Production of gramophone players were a natural corollary of the business. The company established a good reputation in the erstwhile undivided Bengal , Assam and Orissa. They had a full-time recording studio which could be described as State-of-the-art in present times. Senola was a competitor of other record labels like Columbia, Odeon, HMV, and the Calcutta based Hindusthan Records, Megaphone, Twin, New Theatre and so on. These labels will be familiar to members who are from the present day Bengal as will be most of the singers. Artistes like K.L.Saighal, Suprabha Sarkar, Kanan Devi, the brothers Dhananjay and Pankaj Bhattacharya, Tarapada Chakrabarty, Bhupen Hazarika, Dwijen Mukherjee, Manna Dey were among many who sang for this label. The two eminent poets/singers , both known as rebel poets Kazi Nazrul Islam of Bengal and Bishnu Rabha of Assam also recited/sang under the Senola label. Almost all the Calcutta based record labels did their own recording while the records were pressed at the Gramophone Company of India factory. Perhaps the reason for Senola going bust was because of the fact the Gramophone Company decided to stop production of 78 RPM shellac records around early 1970and Senola did not have Plan B!

​

First of all congratulations on this lovely rare find. Delighted to see the machine. It reminds me of my friend Rohit's gramophone player of Columbia make which he showed at the first SIRC Bangalore meet. I would love to get one in working condition like this one!

I doubt that Saigal or Kanan Devi sang for this label.
If memory serves me correct Kanan Devi was under life contract for Megaphone and KLS for Hindustan Records. Were they given on loan to the label? would love to see some record scans of theirs for the label if they exist.

Let me add some more information about the Senola brand for those interested.
The proprietors of the label were Nerode Baran Sen and Brothers. They traded as Senola Musical Products Co.
N.B. Sen and Brothers was established in 1910 at Calcutta . They were initially dealers and importers of gramophone machines and accessories and manufacturers of harmoniums.
By late 20s they were dealing in "Decca" talking machines and manufacturing 'Chandi' flute harmoniums in rooms behind their showrooms at 11 Esplanade East and 1-C Bentick Street, Calcutta.
An old ad of the company has them claiming this:-
"We sell various types of Gramophone, Nicolephone and Beka Talking Machines and Records in all languages at very moderate rates.
We are prepared to supply any number of records at the shortest notice. Price lists etc can be obtained on application. Repairs undertaken at very moderate rates".
Wish you could contact them and get it repaired at very moderate rates

How much did it cost you in the present condition?

Though their main business was trading in musical instruments, they introduced their line of talking machines "senola" in 1935. They were locally assembled using motors and parts obtained from E Paillard & Co., Switzerland.
They even opened a retail outlet to promote it at 184 Dharamtalla Street, Calcutta.

This Senola record label was introduced in January 1935 with an emphasis on Bengali and regional musical styles, beginning with the silver labelled QS-1 series, for Bengali recordings, followed shortly afterwards by a QS-2001 series for Hindustani repertoire.

The QS-101 series expanded rapidly with Assamese and Oriya Recordings being added to the series along with sets of drama's performed by the 'Senola Natya Parisath' troupe.
I have heard of them having instrumental recordings as well.
They also had a QS-3001 series for modern bengali recordings as well as a QG-1501 gold series for special recordings.
Many of their small plays and drama were available as microgroove single-play series QC-1001. The most successful ones were reissued as LPs in a series commencing at LQS-101.

The strength of the label was its extensive variety of Bengali, Assamese, Khasi, Garo, Manipuri, Nepali and Adibasi repertoires, along with sets of musical dramas.
It maybe noted that the manufacturer of the label was the Gramophone Co Ltd, Dum Dum.

I doubt if they made any hindi film records at all.​

 

[kuruvilajacob]

Good find. I hope you will be able to restore it . Those who repair such oldies are few. I hope you find some one to repair/ restore it without it losing it's originality.

 

[quad]

Wow - what a find.
You should do a "rustoration" - basically preserve as much originality as possible.

 

[musiklava79]

holy cow!!

God bless you!! This is not a windfall, this is a coup!!

what a find...reminds me about the stories my dad told me about the gramaphone he had back in the 1930s and 1940s, during his childhood days. His description was similar. His was HMV.

You're telling me!! I've handled these machines when I was a kid. We had one of those huge floor standers in our ancestral home. It was a speed changer type, if I am not mistaken. The lid could be opened upwards and the machine cranked for playing. There was a latticed grille and the machine seemed to be very heavy. Then there was an HMV portable gramophone similar to the one above that was a bright red in colour and had a small box in the front corner that swung around on a pivot. It held the needles. I also remember a huge radiogram that had two sliding doors. One compartment had the radio (a Murphy or a Bush) and a Garrard record changer. The other compartment was meant for keeping records but I remember that a Telefunken spool tape recorder was kept there instead. The lower part of the radiogram had a 3-speaker enclosure, two elliptical and a round centre. It was covered with some ornate grille cloth. Ah, I still remember the loud and sweet sound that came from that radiogram. The last two were kept in our town home.

Would you believe it? Mom gave it all away some time in the 70's!! I was a callow youth who was happy with his personal "stereo hifi system"! If only I had known then......

Ah, sweet

As discussed with reubensm, on another thread, I used something very like this, as a child, on the regular occasions when the Radiogram was awaiting repair or a new valve.

Then you must know how it feels now. All nostalgia!!

 

[musiklava79]

First of all congratulations on this lovely rare find. Delighted to see the machine. It reminds me of my friend Rohit's gramophone player of Columbia make which he showed at the first SIRC Bangalore meet. I would love to get one in working condition like this one!

I doubt that Saigal or Kanan Devi sang for this label.
If memory serves me correct Kanan Devi was under life contract for Megaphone and KLS for Hindustan Records. Were they given on loan to the label? would love to see some record scans of theirs for the label if they exist.

Let me add some more information about the Senola brand for those interested.
The proprietors of the label were Nerode Baran Sen and Brothers. They traded as Senola Musical Products Co.
N.B. Sen and Brothers was established in 1910 at Calcutta . They were initially dealers and importers of gramophone machines and accessories and manufacturers of harmoniums.
By late 20s they were dealing in "Decca" talking machines and manufacturing 'Chandi' flute harmoniums in rooms behind their showrooms at 11 Esplanade East and 1-C Bentick Street, Calcutta.
An old ad of the company has them claiming this:-
"We sell various types of Gramophone, Nicolephone and Beka Talking Machines and Records in all languages at very moderate rates.
We are prepared to supply any number of records at the shortest notice. Price lists etc can be obtained on application. Repairs undertaken at very moderate rates".
Wish you could contact them and get it repaired at very moderate rates

How much did it cost you in the present condition?

Though their main business was trading in musical instruments, they introduced their line of talking machines "senola" in 1935. They were locally assembled using motors and parts obtained from E Paillard & Co., Switzerland.
They even opened a retail outlet to promote it at 184 Dharamtalla Street, Calcutta.

This Senola record label was introduced in January 1935 with an emphasis on Bengali and regional musical styles, beginning with the silver labelled QS-1 series, for Bengali recordings, followed shortly afterwards by a QS-2001 series for Hindustani repertoire.

The QS-101 series expanded rapidly with Assamese and Oriya Recordings being added to the series along with sets of drama's performed by the 'Senola Natya Parisath' troupe.
I have heard of them having instrumental recordings as well.
They also had a QS-3001 series for modern bengali recordings as well as a QG-1501 gold series for special recordings.
Many of their small plays and drama were available as microgroove single-play series QC-1001. The most successful ones were reissued as LPs in a series commencing at LQS-101.

The strength of the label was its extensive variety of Bengali, Assamese, Khasi, Garo, Manipuri, Nepali and Adibasi repertoires, along with sets of musical dramas.
It maybe noted that the manufacturer of the label was the Gramophone Co Ltd, Dum Dum.

I doubt if they made any hindi film records at all.

Thanks for filling in some of the gaps! That was very informative. As for KLS and KD, this information was passed onto me by a friend from Kolkata. As you know very well that in those days, artistes who were tied by contracts to one label would sing for other labels under different names. This is also true for some artistes from the Senola label....

As for the price paid, I'm not spinning a yarn when I tell you that it was less than Rs.1K!! The gentleman who owns that shop had told me about this machine a few months back and promised to sell it to me. My late Dad's personal driver cum assistant was a close friend of his. So family ties played abig role in this acquisition!

The Senola and HMV shellacs are a part of the records that I managed to rescue from the garage shed in my house. I'm still sorting them out. It's a real slow process. Some are broken or chipped.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Then you must know how it feels now. All nostalgia!!

I do indeed, but I think I can be happy to leave it in the childhood memories department. The sound of the Radiogram, I think (hey, this is fifty years back) was booming. Probably better than the mains-powered valve radio we had, though.

Yes, these things were absolutely core to my childhood and growing up, because I acquired a taste for radio drama back in the days when I was sent to bed very early, and, for quite a few of the years when I would have been welcome in front of the TV with mum and dad, I preferred my radio!

Given a big house, if these items materialised, I'd find showcase places for them --- but I don't think I'd use them!

Personal audio, early 1950s: 78RPM record on the wind up, and play it with a pin held between your teeth!

 

[musiklava79]

Good find. I hope you will be able to restore it . Those who repair such oldies are few. I hope you find some one to repair/ restore it without it losing it's originality.

I'll handle the restoration myself. I've quite a bit of experience in restoration (though not of phonographs, this being my first one) and/or precision mechanical jobs. I have almost all the necessary tools and implements to do the job. The only unknown factor is the motor. If I think that it's too complicated for me to tackle then I'll send at least that part to the professionals in Kolkata, where they have some competent technicians still.

I plan to photograph all the parts at every stage of the dismantling and keep all the parts in separate zip lock bags that will be catalogued. I'll make guide notes so that re-assembly is easier and so that I don't end up with more nuts, bolts and screws than I started out with!! hyeah:

Wow - what a find.
You should do a "rustoration" - basically preserve as much originality as possible.

Sure, and I'll post the end results of that job!

 

[hildebrand]

I will believe that price. Kolkata still has some people who don't overcharge!
Will await your sorting out and sharing details.

 

[musiklava79]

I will believe that price. Kolkata still has some people who don't overcharge!
Will await your sorting out and sharing details.

Will definitely do that. Look out for future announcements in this space!

 

[musiklava79]

Personal audio, early 1950s: 78RPM record on the wind up, and play it with a pin held between your teeth!

I crack up every time I imagine a guy lying on his bed with a 78 RPM record balanced on his nose tip and a needle stuck between his teeth with music pouring out of both his ears......!!!

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

:lol:

Well, it wasn't quite like that --- but a kid with his head in the record player, pin in mouth, is just as funny. Well, almost as funny.

Well, ok... not nearly so funny as you idea! :lol:

 

[ANILKUMAR]

SENOLA PORTABLE WIND-UP GRAMOPHONE (Part 2)
.....
About Senola L]
.....
This is what I also found when I hunted up the Senola record(s)!
​

Great find.
I still use my manual Victrola G'phone and a HMV automatic (starts when arm is lifted and stops when end of rec reached) G'phone- to play 7RPM RECORDS.

 

[musiklava79]

:lol:

Well, it wasn't quite like that --- but a kid with his head in the record player, pin in mouth, is just as funny. Well, almost as funny.

Well, ok... not nearly so funny as you idea! :lol:

Actually, the credit is all yours, Sir. I found your take quite funny and built up on that, let my imagination take off and there you have it!!! hyeah:

 

[musiklava79]

Great find.
I still use my manual Victrola G'phone and a HMV automatic (starts when arm is lifted and stops when end of rec reached) G'phone- to play 7RPM RECORDS.

Thank you. Which model of Victrola do you have? Is the HMV gramophone a wind-up or electric one?

Looking forward to seeing shots of your gramophones soon!