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 Lps Box Sets
Beatrix Potter Music Box
Kaleidoscope Music Box
Music Box Record Player
Music Box 3D
Music Box Ode To Joy
Let Me Call You Sweetheart Music Box
Music Box Schmid
Music Box Pooh
Music Box Daughter
Music Box Valentines
Music Box Beauty And The Beast
Music Box 30 Note
Animated Music Box
Music Box 30 Note
Music Box Elvis
Silent Night Music Box
Music Box Kit
Music Box Irish
Music Box Angel
Music Box Toys
Music Box Butterfly
Music Box Mechanism Sankyo
Fur Elise Music Box
Music Box Iphone
Music Duke Box
Music Box Kit Make Your Own
Music Box Urn
Music Box Ghibli
Music Box Grandfather'S Clock
Music Box Kit
Music Box Movie
Music Box Jewlery Box
Music Box Valentines
Disney Music Box
Music Duke Box