Victor Talking Machine Company
Overview
The Victor Talking Machine Company (1901
–1929
) was an American
corporation
, the leading American producer of phonograph
s and phonograph records
and one of the leading phonograph companies in the world at the time. It was headquartered in Camden, New Jersey
.
The company was founded by Eldridge R. Johnson
, who had previously made phonographs to play Emile Berliner
's Berliner Gramophone
records. Some sources also claim Berliner as a co-founder; others say Berliner was never connected with the Victor company, though that may have been part of a ruse by Johnson to defeat the Zonophone
lawsuits that had put Berliner Gramophone out of business (in the U.S., but not in Canada, the UK, or Germany) and threatened Johnson's phonograph business.
1901 in music
-Events:*April 18 - Contralto Mariska Horvath marries politician J. Frank Aldrich.*October 27 – First complete performance of Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2*November 25 – Premiėre of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No...
–1929
1929 in music
-Events:*January 1 – Pianist and composer Abram Chasins makes his professional debut playing his own piano concerto with the Philadelphia Orchestra.*January 11 – Karol Szymanowski's Stabat Mater is premiered....
) was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
corporation
Corporation
A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...
, the leading American producer of phonograph
Phonograph
The phonograph record player, or gramophone is a device introduced in 1877 that has had continued common use for reproducing sound recordings, although when first developed, the phonograph was used to both record and reproduce sounds...
s and phonograph records
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
and one of the leading phonograph companies in the world at the time. It was headquartered in Camden, New Jersey
Camden, New Jersey
The city of Camden is the county seat of Camden County, New Jersey. It is located across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 77,344...
.
The company was founded by Eldridge R. Johnson
Eldridge R. Johnson
Eldridge Reeves Johnson co-created the Victor Talking Machine Company alongside Emile Berliner, a United States corporation, and built it into the leading American producer of phonographs and phonograph records and one of the leading phonograph companies in the world at the time.In...
, who had previously made phonographs to play Emile Berliner
Emile Berliner
Emile Berliner or Emil Berliner was a German-born American inventor. He is best known for developing the disc record gramophone...
's Berliner Gramophone
Berliner Gramophone
Berliner Gramophone was an early record label, the first company to produce disc "gramophone records" .-History:...
records. Some sources also claim Berliner as a co-founder; others say Berliner was never connected with the Victor company, though that may have been part of a ruse by Johnson to defeat the Zonophone
Zonophone
Zonophone, early on also rendered as Zon-O-Phone was a record label founded in 1899 in Camden, New Jersey by Frank Seaman. The Zonophone name was not that of the company, but was applied to the records and machines sold by Seaman from 1899-1900 to 1903...
lawsuits that had put Berliner Gramophone out of business (in the U.S., but not in Canada, the UK, or Germany) and threatened Johnson's phonograph business.
