Let’s flash back 125 years…
If you wanted to listen to music at home, you needed one of these…
What is it?
This beautiful piece is a “Regina Music Box” made by the Regina Company. It uses a punched metal disc and a beautifully designed brass mechanism to recreate music.
You need to hear the beauty of this music box to fully understand why it’s so special… this is no toy, this a true musical instrument.
Here’s a short clip so you can hear for yourself!
Finely Made Musical Instruments
In the late 1800s, Music Boxes were at the height of their popularity. At this point in history, there was no such thing as “recorded music”. Music was performed live, or recreated on mechanical devices like this Regina Music box.
Accordingly, music boxes were crafted with extremely high levels of quality. They were viewed as true musical instruments; designed to vibrate and respond in the most musical way possible.
Who owned these?
These finely-made music boxes were quite expensive! They were purchased by wealthy individuals for use in their homes.
You can imagine how impressive a party guest might find a device like this in the 1890s...
With the simple push of a switch, this machine would spring to life, and magically produce beautiful music for the partygoers to enjoy and dance to.
The Regina Company also produced free-standing, coin-operated models for places like restaurants and hotel lobbies.
How does it work?
The Spring
This beautiful musical instrument is powered by a hand-cranked spring. The spring is similar to the type found in a grandfather clock, and it drives the circular motion of the disc.
The Disc
The musical information is “stored” on a carefully punched metal disc. The holes in the disc engage with the teeth of a gear, which in turn plucks a musical comb.
The Regina Company had a vast library of songs, crafted by the best audio engineers of the time… The Regina Company actually poached a top engineer from a competitor to help produce its discs!
They knew that having a beautiful sounding music box was no use if they didn’t have the best music of the time. With the help of this engineer, they arranged thousands of compositions for their music box, and produced them for years.
The Musical Comb
As mentioned above, the holes punched in the disc engage the teeth of a gear, and as the gear spins it plucks the tine of a musical comb.
Each tine of the comb is tuned to a precise musical pitch. When in operation, the proper tines are plucked at the right rhythm and pitch to create beautiful music.
This particular example has a musical comb on each side, making this a desirable “Twin-Comb” model. This is a premium option, and results in even better tone than the single comb variants.
Beautiful Craftsmanship & Style
These musical instruments were designed with sound quality as the highest priority, but no expense was spared in making the case look beautiful.
Since these music boxes were meant to be proudly displayed inside the homes of the wealthy, ornate carvings and other important style elements were incorporated.
The level of craftsmanship is truly impressive. Even after 120+ years, this Regina is still completely intact and in perfect working order - a testament to just how much care went into making each Music Box.
Helen Keller loved her Regina Music Box!
Thanks to a Historian of the Olde Engine Works, we are able to share a little-known story:
“Hellen Keller had a Regina Music Box very similar to this one... Since the entire wooden case vibrates musically, she was able to put her hands on the box and ‘feel the music’ as it was played…
What’s even more amazing is that she had favorite songs! She was even able to recognize them when played on a pipe organ because she recognized the vibrations from experience with her Regina Music Box.
It has even been documented that one of her favorite tunes was “Blue Bells of Scotland”.
Music the whole family can enjoy together
This Regina isn’t just a music box… it’s a gorgeous musical instrument crafted to produce the sweetest, most musical tone possible.
Just as it did in the 1890s, this music box still brings a smile to the face of all those who hear it.
She’s got a voice all her own, and you are welcome to swing by the Olde Engine Works any time to hear it for yourself! Please ask at the front desk for a demo.
___________
At the time this was published, this music box is still available for sale. If interested you can view it here in our online store, or stop in to experience in person.
If you liked reading this, please subscribe to our “Antiques Insider Club” to get an email when a new Rare Antique Story is published! The sign up box is at the bottom of every page.
