history of music boxes, when invented, why, collectibles

Hello maxie1-ga,

Tutuzdad-ga points out that this is, at least potentially, a
complicated question that would take a lot of work to research. 
However, I assume that you just want the basic facts, with a few
resources that contain further details.  This is easy enough to
provide.

The music box was invented in 1796 by a Swiss watchmaker, Antoine
Favre.  He invented it as part of a trend towards miniaturization of
musical devices.  The cylinder music box allowed the rich and the
middle class to enjoy popular music at home.  The invention of the
disc box in the 1880s allowed music boxes to be mass produced, with
interchangeable discs.  The popularity of the phonograph was a serious
blow to the music box industry in Europe and America.  Today's music
boxes are apparently made primarily in Japan and China, although there
is a Swiss music box maker.

Here are some web pages you can look at for more details of the
history, as well as a page on collectibles:

"The Origins of Mechanical Music and of the Music Box"
Music Boxes and Musical Gifts
http://www.giftsonline.net/history.html

"History"
World of Music Boxes
http://www.worldofmusicboxes.com/history/

"Magical Music Boxes"
Old and Sold
http://www.oldandsold.com/articles/article003.shtml

"Musical Boxes"
Channel Bells
http://www.channelbells.com/music/musical_boxes/musical_boxes.htm

I hope that this information is helpful.

- justaskscott-ga


Search terms used on Google:

"history of the music box"
"history of music boxes"
"antoine favre" "music box"

I'm sure a number of researchers would like very much to research your
question but frankly, the price you have selected just doesn't equate
to the amount of work it normally takes to research an interesting,
but very complicated question like this.

If you haven't already done so, I would recommend that you read this
article How to price your question in the user guide. It provides a
number of tips on how you can appropriately price a question, or
adjust the price of an existing question accordingly in order to help
attract a quality researcher.

http://answers.google.com/answers/pricing.html

Regards;
Tutuzdad-ga