As the pins on a rotating cylinder struck the teeth of the comb, notes were produced. Much like early musical clocks, these machines were spring-wound. In 1810, David LeCoultre, of the famous LeCoultre watch-making family, designed a brass cylinder to play notes on a straight length of tuned steel teeth. Longer cylinders could be pinned for multiple tunes and adjusted laterally to switch between songs. 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.
Selected Products
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Music Boxes Movement
Music Box Tin
Music Box Castle In The Sky
Music Box Playing You Are My Sunshine
Music Box Instrument
Music Box 18 Note
Music Box Dancing
Carousel Horse Music Box
Classical Music Box Set
Music Box Mechanism Wind Up
Italian Music Box
Ice Cream Music Box
Music Box Turntable Base
Childrens Music Box
Music Box I Want To Hold Your Hand
Music Box Reuge
Music Box Bird
Music Box For Women
Kikkerland Music Box
Josef Originals Music Box
Disney Frozen Music Box
Otagiri Music Box
Music Box Sunshine
Music Box Photo Album
Music Box Angel
Music Box Disk
Music Box Crib
Music Box Disk
Dancing Music Box
Music Box Toddler
Music Box Turntable
Music Box Dvd
Music Box Duck
Music Box Angel
Harry Potter Music Box Hedwigs Theme
Pre 1900 Music Box