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 Toy
Music Box Daughter
Ice Cream Music Box
Italian Inlaid Music Box
Music Box Nativity
Antique Cylinder Music Box
Music Box Harry Potter Theme
Anri Music Box
Music Box Unchained Melody
Music Box Jewelry
Music Box Kiss The Rain
Music Box You Are My Sunshine
Italian Music Box
Music Box Lullaby
Ice Cream Truck Music Box
Music Box Movie
German Music Box
Music Box Godfather Theme
Music Box Kit Make Your Own
Music Box Mechanism Wind Up
Music Box 50 Note
Music Box Valentines Day
Carousel Horse Music Box
Music Box Kiss The Rain
Music Box Unforgettable
Music Box Imagine
Music Box Custom
Music Box Dvd
Music Box Dancing
Music Box Adult
Music Box Nocturne
Music Box Replacement
Music Box 7
Music Box Mechanism
Music Box Personalized
Music Box Playing You Are My Sunshine