Not Your Ordinary Music Box

I didn't realize that music boxes could have these many notes. It's simply amazing!

Music boxes have always fascinated me.

I have collected a number over the years.

The first music box I remember was a brown jewelry box with a ballerina inside. To wind the music box, one had to use the key located in the back of the box. When wound, the music would play when the jewelry box was opened. The ballerina would stand up and turn as the music played. We lost the key to the music box at a certain point in time and had to use a bobby pin to wind the movement. Over the years, the music box got over-wound, the ballerina got lost and only the jewelry box remained.

Then someone gave me two music box movements, my first Hurdy Gurdy pieces. I would take them out of the box and put them on my brown table. (The music resonates better when the Hurdy Gurdy is played over a wood surface.) I would turn the crank and listen to the music play. I would watch as the teeth of the steel comb would make a sound as they hit one or more of the pins found in the rotating cylinder. I could choose the speed at which the music played by controlling the crank.

Mother would sometimes get me music boxes or music box movements from the San Francisco Music Box Company whenever they find themselves in that side of the States. My siblings have also kept a look out for music boxes and music box movements for me over the years.

Though I love my music box collection, I am partial to the ones that play Pachelbel's Canon in D and the theme from Somewhere in Time (Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini).

However, I must admit that the music box I wish I could listen to more often is the one that plays Silent Night. Check it out here.