Samuel (Barnett) & Sons, Ltd.
32 Worship St., London. (c1900 - 1926)

Decca Gramophone Co., Ltd.
Decca Record Co., Ltd.
1-3, Brixton Rd., London SW9 (1930)

Decca Radio and Television Ltd.
1-3, Brixton Rd., London SW9. (1938-1959)
Ingate Place, Queenstown Road, London, SW8 (1959)

Many models cannot clearly be allocated to one of a.m. companies. Literature does not make clear indications, only the sole name Decca is used.
This is understood as a pool for all Decca models to avoid random assignment.

Decca Records, Inc. was established in the United States in late 1934 as a subsidiary of the British company.

Radios: Decca was one of the first companies to introduce radios with built-in record players. Decca radios were also known for their high quality & durability.

Records: Decca released some of the most iconic popular music recordings of the 20th century, including artists such as The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, & Elton John. Decca Records was also known for its high-quality sound.

Radar: Decca radar systems were used by both Allied & Axis forces during World War II. Decca radar was particularly effective at detecting ships and submarines.

Navigation: The Decca Navigator System was a hyperbolic radio navigation system that was used by ships & aircraft to determine their position. The Decca Navigator System was widely used in the post-war era, and it remained in operation until the early 2000s.

History

Samuel (Barnett) & Sons, Ltd. was a London musical instrument firm from 1832. The firm was one of the first in London to take up phonographs & gramophones, toward the end of the 19th century.
It was announced in 1903 that the shop had 100,000 records in stock. Products of Columbia, Zonophone, & Edison were handled. In 1908 the firm was appointed sole agent in the U.K. for Odeon, Fonotipia, & Jumbo Records of Fonotipia, Ltd.

The most successful item marketed by Samuel was its own Decca Dulcephone portable [1]     

The name "Decca" was coined by Wilfred S. Samuel in 1914 by merging the word "Mecca" with the initial D of their logo "Dulcet" or their trademark "Dulcephone". Samuel, a linguist, chose "Decca" as a brand name as it was easy to pronounce in most languages. [2]

The Decca Dulcephone portable, first marketed in 1914, was the most successful of its products, advertised under Barnett Samuel’s name as late as 1926. The portable, which closed into a cubic-foot-size carrying case, was very popular among British military personnel during WW1. [1][3]
The company was eventually renamed the Decca Gramophone Co. Ltd. & then sold to former stockbroker Edward Lewis in 1929. [2]

In 1929 Lewis decided to float the company & Decca Record Co., Ltd. was formed. The first AGM in May 1930 is detailed below.

Decca's First Annual General Meeting.

Following the recent issue of the first accounts of the Decca Record Co., Ltd.- reported in these columns last week first annual general meeting of the company was held on Monday at Winchester House, Old Broad Street, London. In his speech, the chairman stated that the Decca Record Co. was formed to purchase a modern record factory, & to acquire the shares of the Decca Gramophone Co., of which the Record Company holds 369,790 out of the 390,000 shares in the Decca Gramophone Co.

When the company obtained possession of the factory there was no reason to suppose the estimates provided by Mr. Balfour would not be reached before the end of the first year's trading. At the statutory meeting at the end of May, the chairman, Mr. Balfour stated that he adhered to his estimate, & the board had naturally to rely on his judgment.

Shortly after, however, the board had reason to entertain the gravest misgivings as to the probability of the sales of records coming up to expectations. It was decided to set up a committee to make an independent investigation into the company's affairs.

A few weeks afterward several alterations in the personnel of the company were made the result of these changes being to put effective management of the company into the hands of the officials of the Decca Gramophone Co., who immediately deleted many of the earlier records from the catalogue, altered the process of manufacture and instituted economies in the running costs of the factory. New directors were appointed, and the board set up a Works Committee, whose efforts resulted in improved production and rapidly increasing record sales.

Continuing, the chairman drew attention to the company's assets, amounting to £163,451, against liabilities of £12,685. With reference to the gramophone side, the turnover was the largest in the history of the business, & all instruments had sold well. The report and accounts were unanimously adopted. [4]

In July 1930 they advertised their new premises at Brixton Road had large stockrooms with all Decca machines and radios on display. They arranged for cars to collect agents and trade personnel from around the UK and transport them to view the stockrooms over the following months. [5]

In 1929 the old British Brunswick Ltd. which was one of the first companies to introduce radios with built-in phonographs and were known for their high quality and innovative features was acquired by the US Warner Brothers and formed Warner Brunswick, Ltd. as a subsidiary.

Around 1931 they were acquired by the Decca Record Co., Ltd. and took over the manufacture of the Brunswick brand in Great Britain.

Brunswick brand radio products were manufactured by Decca until the late 1930s.

Decca Record label

In 1934, Decca established a US label, which was initially successful with blues and jump music. In 1954, American Decca released "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley & His Comets, which became the first international rock & roll hit. Decca also released early rock and roll records by Buddy Holly & The Crickets.

Within years, Decca Records was the second-largest record label in the world, calling itself "The Supreme Record Company".

In the 1960s, Decca became a major player in the British Invasion, releasing music by The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, and Elton John. Decca also released music by other iconic British artists, such as The Who, The Kinks, and Rod Stewart.

Decca Radio and Television Ltd.

Decca Radio and Television Ltd. was founded as a subsidiary of Decca Records in 1938 to take over the business of radio & television manufacturing for Decca and some under the Brunswick label.  They were a major player in the British radio and television market for many years. Its products were known for their high quality and innovative features. For example, Decca was one of the first companies to introduce televisions with built-in record players.
The company also had a strong presence in the export market. Decca radios and televisions were sold all over the world, including in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

The frequency range of ffrr was 80–15000 Hz, with a signal-to-noise ratio of 60 dB. While Decca's early ffrr releases on 78-rpm discs had some noticeable surface noise, which diminished the effects of the high-fidelity sound, the introduction of long-playing records in 1949 made better use of the new technology and set an industry standard that was quickly imitated by Decca's competitors. Nonetheless, titles first issued on 78rpm remained in that form in the Decca catalogues into the early 1950s. The ffrr technique became internationally accepted and considered a standard. [2]

WW2

Decca contributed to the British war effort during WW2 and the military engineering activity resulted in a number of commercial ventures after the war, in particular, the Decca Navigator System, and the Decca Radar Company.

Decca Navigator Co. Ltd. was formed in 1945 to implement the William O'Brien hyperbolic radio navigation system that allowed ships and aircraft to determine their position by using radio signals from a dedicated system of static radio transmitters. Racal, the UK weapons, and communications company, acquired Decca in 1980. Merging Decca's radar assets with their own, Racal began selling off the other portions of the company, including avionics and Decca Navigator.[6]

Also, Racal sold Decca Radio and Television Ltd. to Tatung, a Taiwanese firm.

Decca Radar Ltd. was set up in 1949.

There were originally two divisions, Marine and Heavy Radar, with separate product lines. The latter was sold to Plessey in 1965, and the term "Decca Radar" normally refers to the Marine division. That division remained with Decca until 1979 when it was purchased by Racal to form Racal-Decca.

[1] Encyclopedia of Recorded Sound in the United States, Page 608.
[2] Wikipedia-Decca Label, accessed Oct 2023.
[3] The Gramophone Jul 1926, Page Ad xxiv.
[4] Wireless & Gramophone Trader Jun 28, 1930, Page 357.
[5] Wireless & Gramophone Trader Jul 19, 1930, Page I.
[6] Practical Electronics Jun 1980, Page 23.
[7] Wireless World Feb 1947, Page Ad 34.
[8] Wireless World Oct 1969, Page 494.