The Sound and Vision Exhibition, Hall Place

Berliner Gramophone Hall Place

One of my favourite sections of Hall Place was the Sound and Vision Exhibition which takes visitors through a history of home entertainment.  I found it fascinating and it appealed to my love of history, media and television.

The revolution of home entertainment began with Thomas Edison’s patented phonograph machine, followed swiftly by Emile Berliner’s invention of the gramophone, both occurring in the late 19th century. Guglielmo Marconi’s innovations in wireless technology during the 1890s changed the face of communication worldwide, especially during World War I as parties were able to communicate across great distances first through Morse code and later using voice technology. The ability to transmit soon turned into the birth of broadcasting and the British Broadcasting Corporation was formed on 18 October 1922.

While Edison and Berliner succeeded in bringing music and entertainment to people’s own homes, that was nothing compared to the advent of radio which brought news of a world war into people’s living rooms. It may surprise you to know that the father of television, John Logie Baird, had all but perfected his invention by January 1926 and the BBC began transmitting and producing programmes throughout the 1930s. This service was suspended during World War II and television services resumed in 1946. Television went on to win the battle to become the world’s number one form of entertainment and the rest, as they say, is history.

The exhibition features excellent examples of vintage phonographs, gramophones, radios and televisions and runs until March 2012.  It is a small exhibition so I wouldn’t suggest going all the way to Hall Place just for this, but I definitely think Hall Place has enough to offer to entertain visitors for an afternoon.  As with the rest of Hall Place, entrance is free.

Sound and Vision Exhibit at Hall Place

(Click the photo above for a better look!)

8 comments on "The Sound and Vision Exhibition, Hall Place"
  1. Hi Emm, great article, I love your blog. Thanks for sharing.

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  2. I remember having a gramophone. I had quite a nise collection of LPs. Those were fun! Have a great day, Emm!

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  3. Sounds like a great exhibition to see. And the fact it is free makes it even better!

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  4. Lovely! Happy new year to you and yours!

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  5. We've come a long ways since the gramophone. Thanks for the tour.

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  6. Nostalgica!

    My best wishes and blessings to you for 2012:-)

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  7. @ Miguel: Hiya! How are you? Thank you and it is a pleasure.

    @ Ivanhoe: Really? It must have been an absolute treasure. We had a proper old style hi-fi with an amp, turntable and so on but eventually decided to let it go. It cost too much to keep going, what with the needles and so on!

    @ Victoria: It was!

    @ William: Definitely. All told, Hall Place is a great day out and I'd like to go again soon to walk in the grounds.

    @ Ash: Thank you and happy new year to you too!

    @ AVCr8teur: I agree, can you believe the progress of the last 100 or so years??

    @ Spiderdama: I know, it was a great walk in the recent past. Happy new year!

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