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 Jewellery
Music Box Old
Music Box Iphone
Music Box Ode To Joy
Swan Lake Music Box
Music Box Night Light
Disney Princess Music Box
Music Box Studio Speaker
Music Box Dvd
Music Box Nightmare Before Christmas
Music Box Kit
Music Box Lullaby
Music Box Movements
Music Box Anniversary Waltz
Music Box Globe
Music Box I Love You A Bushel And A Peck
Music Box I Want To Hold Your Hand
Music Box English
Music Box Dancer
Otagiri Music Box
Music Box Necklace For Girls
Music Box Amazing Grace
Dancing Music Box
Music Box Alice In Wonderland
Music Box Jessica Lange
Antique Cylinder Music Box
Music Box Enesco
Music Box Twinkle
Music Box Davy Jones
Reuge Music Box Italy
Music Box Egg
Japanese Music Jewelry Box
Music Box Butterfly
Music Box Player
Music Box Make Your Own
Music Box 1000 Years