My mother collected music boxes; I inherited the antique wooden one. The blue powder music box sat on my grandmother's dresser for as long as I can remember.
A bit of old world charm is discreetly twirling a tuneful touch into the brave new world of today and small boxes with wind-up music strike a nostalgic cord with many people.
The music box has been around for almost 300 years. Developed in the late 1700s along the Swiss-French border, the music box reached its peak in France and Germany when artisans converted a gimmick into an art. In America, the quaint boxes were most popular in the late 19th and early 20th century.
According to Harry Bowman, Dallas Morning News, the technology which gave us the phonograph is blamed for the downfall of the music box. People quickly changed from the finger action of setting a music box too the full arm cranking of the phonograph.
Perhaps it is the sophisticated development of automatic stereo which creates in modern man a desire to participate just a little in making his own music, even if it is a simple wind-up action.
Although they were vanquished from living rooms 50 years ago, music boxes have still flourished. Recall the jewelry boxes where tiny plastic ballerinas spin around to the bell-like tones of music coming from within the satin-covered compartments designed for rings, necklaces, bracelets and the like.
And music boxes remain ever popular with the nursery crowd. Amazing how the lilting sound of a music box will soothe a fretful babe when nothing else can. And for the toddler, there are delightful musical toys where he can set the music a spinning with just a jerk of a string.
Bowman reports, however, that music boxes are returning to the living rooms. According to him, antique dealers have difficulty keeping European styles in stock. However, to meet the demand, there is an increase in new powder boxes, Christmas decorations, figurines, plastic cubes, all turning to the harmonious sound within. The music varies from Brahms and Beethoven to Broadway hits and pop. And “Twinkle, twinkle little star” is always popular.
For me a music box is like a kaleidoscope. How fascinating that just the slight turn of the hand not only can produce such simple entertainment. It also can bring back memories worth remembering.
1976
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