World’s Smallest Playable Record

The Museum of Portable Sound poses alongside the smallest playable record in the world, exhibited at Museu da Música Mecânica, Setúbal, Portugal, in 2018.

The record holder for the world’s smallest playable record is a tiny shellac pressed by HMV in 1924, a functional miniature gramophone record containing a recording of Peter Dawson singing ‘God Save the King.’

It was originally created as part of a doll’s house for England’s Queen Mary that began construction in 1920.

Queen Mary’s dollhouse, via BBC

The doll house contained functional items 1/12th the size of their real-life counterparts, including a functional miniature gramophone seen below.

1/12th size functional gramophone, 1924, courtesy BBC.

The record is 33.3mm / 1 5/16th inches in diameter and plays back at 78rpm. 35,000 copies were pressed.

Read more about the record — and watch a video about it — at the BBC.