MBSI
Musical Box Society International
c. 1912
Manufactured by Blessing Family in Unterkirnach, Germany.
Contains a piano and several ranks of pipes.
The Blessing Family, comprising several generations, manufactured orchestrions from the mid-1800’s through the early 20th century. Only two of the elaborate Castles models still survive.
c. 1930
Manufactured by ARthur BURsens and Gustav ROehls (ARBURO) in Hoboken, Belgium.
The machine plays cardboard books. It features an accordion manufactured by Scandalli.
The Polyphon 6G plays a 22 inch disc. The comb is the same as a 19 5/8 inch Polyphon but with the addition of a 2 3/8 inch bell track playing 16 saucer bells. The instrument was found in the old Alpen Rose restaurant in East Germany (after the wall came down), was restored and purchased on an EBay auction. It is coin operated using a 5 pfennig coin (a dime works also)
This changeable cylinder music box was made by Paillard. There are four cylinders with a storage drawer beneath the mechanism. The tune cards are contained in its original book with instructions on how to change the cylinders.
The Ombro-Cinema is a toy that combines a small music box with an animated story. The story is illustrated on a long strip of paper that is rolled up on two wooden spindles. When the music box is wound and played, it turns one of the spindles causing the paper to scroll behind a window. The animation effect is caused by having two slightly different drawings of each scene cut into thin slices and interlaced. The window has a fence painted on it with bars that are the same width as the drawing slices. Thus, when the paper is scrolled behind the fence the viewer rapidly switches between the two drawing as they are alternately hidden behind the fence.
The toy was manufactured in France around 1910.
This was found at a Seattle toy show around 1998. It came in a well-made cardboard box with the same graphics as the toy. There were four story rolls included, two in black and white and two in color. The story in the photos and video is Puss In Boots.
https://youtu.be/3hHxEru-EII