Unusual types of gramophone records Hi-Fi was a system of proprietary records and players designed for use in automobiles, utilizing a slower play speed and high stylus pressure. With their origin stretching back to the dawn of recorded sound at the turn of the 20th century, flexible recording media have been made from a variety of materials including foil, paper, and–in the 1950s–thin flexible vinyl known as flexi discs. Thin, flexible paper-based records were briefly popularized in the 1930s by Hit of the Week Records and Durium Records. "Melody Cards" were popular in the late 1950s. They took the form of an oversized rectangular postcard
Gramophone Company Gramophone Company The Gramophone Company, based in the United Kingdom and founded on behalf of Emil Berliner, was one of the early recording companies, the parent organisation for the "His Master's Voice (HMV)" label, and the European affiliate of the American Victor Talking Machine Company. Although the company merged with the Columbia Graphophone Company in 1931 to form Electric and Musical Industries Limited (EMI), its name "The Gramophone Company Limited" continued in the UK into the 1970s. The Gramophone Company was founded in 1898 by William Barry Owen and Trevor Williams in London, England. Owen was acting as agent for