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Metadata
Catalog Number |
1976.1.4544 |
Object Name |
Box, Music |
Date |
1890 ca |
Description |
Blithewold's 24-tune cylinder music box was made in Sainte Croix, Switzerland, circa 1890 by Mermod Freres.The Mermod brothers founded their company in 1816 and specialized in cylinder music boxes. They made different models, some larger and some smaller than this one, but the mechanism was the same and was known as the best of its kind. This model was called "Ideal Soprano 15 inch Interchangeable Cylinder Box". It has six melodies on each of four cylinders. The Van Wickles purchased the music box from Jacot & Son, 298 Broadway, New York, who were agents for Mermod Freres. Blithewold's cylinder music box has delighted family and visitors for more than one hundred years and the music box is still in excellent working condition. It is wound by a removable handle. Recently, the music was recorded by Douglas Axtell, C.A.S., a Production Sound Mixer for the movie industry. Came from 284 Commonwealth Avenue in 1933. The mechanism that operates the box is housed in an oak cabinet with a carved front frieze and cast metal decorative handles on each end. The top is paneled. There are two key holes, one for the top to secure the mechanism and one for the bottom drawer to secure the additional cylinders. In more detail, here is how it works: Each cylinder holds thousands of tiny pins. After the cylinder was marked by a master musical arranger it was drilled, and wires were inserted into the holes. Then the cylinder was filled with warm pitch, a noxious mixture of tar and resin. The cylinder was put on a lathe and heated as it spun, so as to distribute the pitch evenly on the inside wall. When the cylinder cooled, the cold pitch held the pins in place. Then the pins were raked on the lathe to the proper height and angle (usually 45 degrees). As the cylinder turns in the music box, the pins play against the comb of metal "teeth", each tooth being calibrated to sound a different note when it is struck by the pins. After each tune is played, the whole cylinder moves slightly to the right, so that a new set of pins are struck and a new melody plays. In this way, six tunes could be made to fit onto each cylinder. A lever can be activated to skip a tune, or to repeat it. The 24 tunes on the four cylinders: Cylinder 1 1:Robert the DevilSicilienne Meyerbeer 2:Bohemian GirlI dreamt Balfe 3:Martha Inverhure Allegro Kotow 4:William TellTyrolienne Rossini 5:TannhauserPilgrim's Chorus Wagner 6:Carmen Polka Bizet Cylinder 2 1:Home Sweet Home Sinclair 2:The Mocking Bird 3:Auld Lang Syne Burns 4:Old Folks at Home 5:Last Rose of Summer Kotow 6:Robin Adaire Cylinder 3 1:Orphee aux EnfersQuadrille Offenbach 2:MikadoLancier Sullivan 3:IrmaSchottisch Lamothe 4:Pizzicato Polka Delibes 5:Les Grelots Mazurka Ascher 6:Girofle-Girofla Galop Lecocq Cylinder 4 1:Manon Waltz Genss 2:A Trip to Africa March Suppe 3:GasparonnePolka Millocker 4:Merry WarMarch Strangs 5:Erminic Takobowski 6:Little TycoonLowe comes(?) likes Spenser |
Maker's Information |
PATENTED / SEPT,22, 1885-DEC 6,1887/ MAI . 8. Jacot & Son, 298 Broadway, New York 1888-DEC 16, 1890/ d.R.P. 33616. 43585. 43884 / 55886 + 2222. / SWITZERLAND |
Materials |
Wood/Metal/Mirror/Glass |
Condition |
Good |
Search Terms |
Music Music Box Jacot Chest |
Catalog Sub-category |
Sound Communication T&E |