First Five Annual Meetings

First Annual Meeting, October 14, 1950, Indianapolis, IN

  • Held in the home of Mr. & Mrs. Perry Ghere
  • First presentations: “What to Look For in Buying a Music Box” (Glenn Heckert); “Refinishing a Music Box” (Marguerite Fabel).
  • Ghere and Fred Smith collections shown.
  • Officers elected: Dr. Byron P. Merrick, President; Lloyd Kelley, Vice-President; Ruth Bornand, Secretary; and Clarence Fabel, Treasurer.
  • Membership: 49

Second Annual Meeting, September, 1951, Pittsburgh, PA

2nd-Mtg-attendees
Attendees at the MBSI 2nd Annual Meeting
  • At the home Mr. Herbert H. Meyer
  • First single page mimeographed Bulletin is produced.
  • Membership: 64

August, 1952

  • A series of articles from Hobbies Magazine is reprinted and distributed.
  • Two issues of the Bulletin are produced.

Third Annual Meeting, September, 1952, Berlin Heights, OH

  • At the home of Byron Merrick
  • First Mart
  • The News Letter is established.
  • Membership: 83

Fourth Annual Meeting, September, 1953, Hanover, MA

  • At the home of Mr. & Mrs. Lloyd G. Kelley
  • The name is changed from “Musical Box Hobbyists”, to the “Musical Box Society, International.”
  • Membership: 91

Fifth Annual Meeting, September 26, 1954, Dearborn, MI

  • At the Educational Building at Greenfield Village, Ford Museum.
  • The first pins and seals using the MBSI insignia are commissioned.
  • Membership: 108