With the onset of war, Tannoy PA systems were purchased in great numbers by the Ministry of Defence and used extensively for important public speeches by figures such as Winston Churchill.
Mobile vans with ornate horns labelled TANNOY with the now famous ‘lightning flash’ design feature became prominent fixtures at outdoor events. Very quickly, TANNOY became associated with portable, mobile public address systems so much so the word ‘Tannoy’ is now listed in the English dictionary as a generic term for a PA system. The name itself was a cunning contraction of TANtalum/allOY – the two materials used in the company’s rectifiers. It took another two years, however, until the famous name TANNOY appeared. Tannoy’s history goes back as far as 1926 when Guy R Fountain founded the Tulsemere manufacturing company in London. Thanks to the pioneering efforts of a historic British Brand, the subject of today’s blog, we have come to refer to a powerful, intelligible audio system as a TANNOY. If two things need sticking together one uses Sellotape, and if a permanent marker’s required, reach for a Sharpie. For example, one does the cleaning with a Hoover, an off-road vehicle is a Jeep. Certain brand names become so entwined with a particular item, that the brand enters into our lexicon.