The Elephone Records we produced by the Universal Talking Machine Co., Ltd., London. The company was formed on November 07, 1907 [1] targeting Indian Gramophone market. The label name “Elephone” is a combination of the first letters from the word “Elephant” and the last letters from the word “Gramophone”. Also, there is the image of an elephant with two gramophone horns instead of tusks on the label. The Company started sales in India on May 12, 1908 and offered records in Caranese, Hindustani, Tamil and Telegu languages as single- and double-sided 10-inch discs [2]. The majority of the Elephone Records were issued from Lyrophon matrices, though some of the them were issued from the Nicole Record matrices belonging at that time to The Disc Record Co. Ltd., Stockport, England. However, the company had operated at a loss throughout its existence of barely one year and in July 1909 it was liquidated.
The sources:
1. http://youtu.be/7hHbFAMCbvs
2. The Gramophone Company's First Indian Recordings, 1899-1908 By Michael S. Kinnear, page 53-54
The Elephone Records we produced by the Universal Talking Machine Co., Ltd., London. The company was formed on November 07, 1907 [1] targeting Indian Gramophone market. The label name “Elephone” is a combination of the first letters from the word “Elephant” and the last letters from the word “Gramophone”. Also, there is the image of an elephant with two gramophone horns instead of tusks on the label. The Company started sales in India on May 12, 1908 and offered records in Caranese, Hindustani, Tamil and Telegu languages as single- and double-sided 10-inch discs [2]. The majority of the Elephone Records were issued from Lyrophon matrices, though some of the them were issued from the Nicole Record matrices belonging at that time to The Disc Record Co. Ltd., Stockport, England. However, the company had operated at a loss throughout its existence of barely one year and in July 1909 it was liquidated.
