Berliner Gramophone formulations remained the standard disc record material until the first vinyl records – initially made only for radio use and other special applications – were introduced in the 1930s. Beginning in 1896, Berliner's gramophones were made by Philadelphia-based machinist Eldridge Johnson, who added a spring motor to drive the previously hand-rotated turntable. Berliner also opened an office in New York City, staffed by Frank Seaman and O. D. LaDow and organized as the National Gramophone Company. Master recordings were made onto zinc plates, which were then electroplated and a negative-image "mother" made from them to stamp discs. A major reversal
Gramophone Company mechanical patents that he owned, which patents were valuable in the agreement with Columbia. Thus, Victor and Columbia began making flat records in the U.S., with UK Gramophone and others continuing to do so outside the U.S. This left Edison the only major player in the making of cylinders; Columbia still made a limited number for a few years. Emile Berliner went out of the business. All he had left were the masters of his earlier records. These he took to Canada and reformed his Berliner label in Montreal, where he used the "His Master's Voice" trademark. Edison would soon