MBSI
Musical Box Society International
This is a Mills Single Violano-Virtuoso. The Mills Novelty Company produced from 4,000 to 5,000 Violanos between 1914 and 1930.
Unlike most automatic instruments, Violanos operate on electricity rather than air. Holes in a scrolling paper roll cause electrical contacts, which energize solenoids to trigger piano hammers, press metal fingers on the violin neck, and lower bow wheels onto the violin strings. The violin can play 64 notes, up to four at a time; the piano has 44 notes.
The Columbia Majestic, also known as the “BD”, came out in 1905. It featured an elegant rounded-corner case and a nickel-plated paneled horn. The model sold for $100.
This pretty French phonograph from the early 1900s plays two-minute cylinder recordings. It came in a velvet lined, faux leather case.
Ad from the Petit Parisien newspaper of October 1902.
The Mikiphone was manufactured by the Swiss company Maison Paillard. They produced between 150,000 and 200,000 of them in the mid 1920’s. At 4″ in diameter and under two pounds it is the smallest portable phonograph. Though it is pictured with a small record it is capable of playing full-size ones. In place of a horn, it uses a Bakelite resonator box which breaks into two parts for packing. A diagram in the lid shows how to just barely fit all the parts inside.
This is a combination phonograph and lamp manufactured by Burns & Pollock in the 1920s. The turntable is driven by an electric motor, but there is no electrical amplification. The base of the lamp doubles as the horn, directing the sound down and out. There are two lightbulbs below the phonograph and a small bulb next to the turntable.
