Name/Title
Edison Bell PicturegramEntry/Object ID
135Description
J. E. Hough Ltd. (Edison Bell Works), London – ca. 1924–1927
One of the earliest multimedia gramophones for children – on display here at the Edisonium
This rare children's gramophone from the 1920s was designed by the Edison Bell company as a play-and-learn device for the home. Its goal was to make fairy tales not only audible, but also visible – an early form of audiovisual entertainment.
The product likely launched in England for the 1927 Christmas season. Each unit was sold with small shellac records (approximately 6 inches in diameter), featuring popular storytellers such as Harry Hemsley. At the same time, colorful picture strips would run through the device, illustrating the story being heard.
The Picturegram is housed in a portable case with faux leather covering. Inside, a spring-driven motor powers both the turntable and, via a friction wheel, the image strip. The moving pictures appear in a small window in the lid, creating a puppet-theatre-like visual experience. The image strips were printed on paper rolls and carefully synchronized with the recordings.
After playback, the entire image-roll mechanism could be removed and stored in the lower compartment of the case – which also served as the sound horn. The unit is equipped with an original Edison Bell soundbox of the “Era” type.
The Edison Bell Picturegram was a technical pioneer of its time – one of the first devices to offer children a synchronized sound-and-image experience, long before the arrival of television or sound film. It combined gramophone, picture book, and toy into a creative and engaging piece of early multimedia for the nursery.
