Antique Mignonphone Portable Phonograph. France, 1920s

Antique red color Mignonphone portable phonograph or gramophone made in France in the 1920s, complete and in good working order. This beautiful device stands out for its charming design and bright red color, which makes it more remarkable. When closed, it looks like a small suitcase with handle and metal locks. The casing is covered in bright red leather, both outside and inside. The leather covering is in great condition; it shows scarcely any signs of wear and bears a soft patina created by the trace of time and the use. The small red-leather horn can be folded and stored inside the lid, while the box contains the turntable and the motor. In order to play a record, the user must put the turntable on the base and connect the crank. Then he or she will connect the reproducer and the horn and mount it in the turntable. The horn is holded by a metal bracket. Authentic and original from the time, this antique Mignonphone gramophone is a collectors piece in excellent condition. Dimensions (Closed): Width: 9.06 in / 23 cm. Depth: 5.51 in / 14 cm. Height: 2.87 in / 7.3 cm.Mignonphone History The Mignonphone was a groundbreaking gramophone in many senses. This pocket or travel gramophone was launched in the 1920 and is one of the smallest gramophones ever manufactured. Different versions were launched, some of them to be exported to America. As well as being a really small device, it had other features that made a significant difference from its competitors. The most relevant one was the octagonal shape of the reproducer; thanks to this feature, in some of the European versions the reproducer could be moved in order to play both vertical- and side-grooved records.;. Years later the manufacturing company gave licenses for its manufacturing in other countries such as Switzerland and the USA. In this country, Walker Products C. made and commercialized a fine version in a black-leather-covered box.