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. In 1892, Brachhausen moved to the United States where he opened the Regina Music Box Company in Jersey City, New Jersey. Though Regina produced its own mechanical works, Brachhausen still imported discs from the Polyphon factory in Leipzig. Regina’s immediate success allowed the company to move into a larger factory space and begin producing its own musical discs by hiring additional staff from the best companies of Europe. Besides designing devices for home use, Regina created machines for public spaces which would play songs for a nickel.
Selected Products
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Music Box Germany
Music Box Ladies
Music Box Girls
Horse Music Box
Music Box 18 Note
Music Box You Are My Sunshine Granddaughter
Music Box 50 Note
Davy Jones Music Box
Music Box Mp3
Music Box Antique
Music Box Gothic
Music Box Usb
Music Box Tin
Music Box With Candle
Music Box Personalised
Sankyo Music Box Keychain
Music Box Christmas
Music Box Crib
Music Box Key
Music Box Mechanism Bird
Music Box That Plays You Are My Sunshine
Music Box 72
Music Box Version
Music Box For Babies
Music Box Battery
Music Box Owl
Music Box Violin
Music Box Egg
Music Box For Kids
Music Box Crank
Music Box Bluetooth
Music Box Fur Elise
Music Box For Crib
Music Box Harry Potter Theme Soundtrack
Music Box Dancing
Music Box Laras Theme