A few years later, Francois Nicole, of the famous Nicole Frères firm, created a steel hairspring damper to soften the ring of each note, and the modern music box was born. However, it wasn’t until 1875 that the first music box factory was opened by the Paillard company in St. Croix, Switzerland. Previously, all music boxes were produced through smaller cottage-industry operations using the skills of different craftspeople to assemble a complete product. These early musical contraptions were an expensive luxury item favored by the aristocracy, primarily playing hymns and operatic songs. Later versions added mechanical automata to their complex musical tunes for increasingly magical effects. By the late 1800s, music boxes were built with removable cylinders whose tunes could be changed by replacing specially designed drawers. Finally, in 1885, Paul Lochmann created a music box called the “Symphonion” using a flat metal disc that rotated on a turntable. These metal discs could be easily swapped out, much like a vinyl record. Pop music was suddenly affordable and immediately accessible; within weeks of a Broadway show’s debut, its most memorable musical themes were available on music-box discs. Gustave Brachhausen, foreman of the Lochmann firm, split with the company and created his own business manufacturing the “Polyphon,” perhaps the most famous disc-operated music box.
Selected Products
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Music Box Amelie
Music Box Bluetooth
Music Box Songs Of Sunshine
Music Box Vienna
Music Box Davy Jones
Music Box Strips
Reuge Music Box 36
Music Box Diy
Music Box Movement
Music Box Davy Jones
Music Box River Flows In You
Music Box That Plays You Are My Sunshine
Music Jewelry Box
Music Box For Men
Italian Inlaid Music Box
Reuge Music Box
Music Box Table
Music Box Dr. Zhivago
Music Box Jessica Lange
Ardleigh Elliott Music Box
Music Box Cat
Music Box Watch
Music Box Parts Wind Up
Music Box Maker
Music Box Wedding
Carousel Horse Music Box
Music Box Rachmaninoff
Music Box Electronic
Music Box Personalised
Music Box Strips
Music Box Valentines Day
Music Box Oil
Happy Birthday Music Box
Old Music Box
Music Box As Time Goes By
Heritage House Music Box