Efforts to have music in Malta play on during World War II have been uncovered in National Archives documents that show the strong case being made for a record store to continue importing gramophones as the bombs rained down.

The story was discovered by National War Museum curator Charles Debono, who stumbled upon minuted documents by the Lieutenant-Governor’s Office back in 1940 while carrying out research at the archives.

At the time, the importation via convoys to Malta of certain goods was being controlled and reduced drastically. But Anthony D’Amato, of D’Amato Records, considered the “world’s oldest” and still standing in St John’s Street, Valletta, did not accept this state of affairs. He wrote to the government at the start of the war, “as the sole local representative of His Master’s Voice, a purely British concern, with which our family has done exclusive business for over 50 years”, hoping it would “see its way to modifying in part the existing regulations”.

A telegram from the Gramophone Company told Antonio D’Amato to approach the local government, which would advise the Colonial Office that the models were needed, making shipping by air possible.

To be able to continue importing gramophones, D’Amato used as an argument the fact that when the war with Italy started, he was allowed to donate a number of gramophones and records to the Military Hospital at Mtarfa. Moreover, “in the early period of hostilities, when Valletta was almost entirely evacuated with the consequent paralysis of commerce, I was one of the few businessmen who refused to be cowed by Italian attacks into closing down and did my best to help… to bring business in town back to normal”.

Under the letterhead ‘Antonio D’Amato, the Leading Gramophone Agency’, D’Amato told the government that the business had dwindled to an “alarming extent” and would have been considered at a standstill were it not for the support of the Services. But according to law, he could not dispense of his four employees and had to continue paying rent to the Treasury, he said in his impassioned plea.

“Unless some special concession is made, I will have to close down when the present stock of gramophones and records is sold out,” D’Amato warned, adding this would result in the swell of the number of unemployed and add to the existing difficulties of trade on the island.

D’Amato acknowledged it could be argued that gramophones and records were “frivolous entertainment and not articles of prime importance”. But he pointed out that the same could be said of tobacco – and yet its importation was not prohibited.

“I can state from very long experience that Service people find in the gramophone a great source of relaxation and entertainment,” he continued. “This is specifically true in war time when the Services are subjected to several restrictions,” D’Amato insisted.

He also feared that if the gramophones were not procurable locally, they would be sought through other means, resulting in the local trade being diverted from its legitimate channel and “seriously prejudiced”.

The allocation of space to cargo, owing to the convoy system and the conditions in the Mediterranean, was, admittedly, very difficult, D’Amato acknowledged in his letter. “All I ask is to be able to import at least 100 gramophones and a limited number of records of the latest hits, which would only require taking up a very moderate amount of space.” He was prepared to enter into an agreement with the government to limit the sale of these goods to Service people only.

All I ask is to be able to import at least 100 gramophones and a limited number of records of the latest hits- Antonio D’Amato, 1940

But his efforts were in vain, and he was told that, due to the existing situation, the request was declined. Shipping space could not be provided for the importation of gramophones and radios, although small quantities of records were allowed. Before taking that decision, notes on documents from 1940 showed the likelihood of any demand from the troops for gramophones and/or records was raised.

Regarded as a luxury, their importation was prohibited. But there was scope for reconsideration.

One note pointed out that 100 gramophones with records were included in a War Office list of gifts for the troops mainly for outposts and forts. “On H.E.’s recommendation, we tried to get Re-Diffusion to every fort, but this was impossible. We should be very grateful if space can be allotted for these articles,” said the handwritten note. In the circumstances, however, a justification could not be found in applying for shipping space.

Third-generation owner Anthony D’Amato, who has followed in his forefathers’ footsteps and today runs the record shop, had said it had to be coronavirus to temporarily close the 135-year-old store.

It did not even stop trading when Malta was blitzed during World War II, and also survived the Spanish flu, although MP3s were its most fierce enemy, while it also faced recession and four decades of rampant piracy. In 2020, for the first time since 1885, D’Amato Records had pulled down it shutters for six weeks while non-essential services were stopped.

Dubbed the “holy grail of record shops” on the international scene, tourists put D’Amato Records on their itinerary, renowned for being “specialised” and able to source any vinyl from somewhere. The business put its money where its mouth was in World War II, being one of four companies that continued advertising with The Times, records show.

Letters dating back to 1942 also discuss royalty issues when records were lost at sea during the war, showing how it was business as usual – albeit slower.

An old photo of the premises shows demolished buildings just up the recognisable Valletta street. But the music played on…