Music & Musical Instruments

This music box disc was made by Mermod Freres, in St. Croix, Switzerland, around 1896-1898. It is Stella Disc #456 - "The Warmest Baby in the Bunch," by George M. Cohan. This disc is playable in Mermod Freres music box models, #63, #84, #126, #168, and #268, which can accommodate 17-1/4” diameter discs.

According to the accession correspondence, the music box and accompanying discs were purchased by the donor in Worcester, Massachusetts, July 25. 1901

This music box disc was made by Mermod Freres, in St. Croix, Switzerland, around 1896-1898. It is Stella Disc #153 - Faust - "Soldier's Chorus," by Charles Gounod. This disc is playable in Mermod Freres music box models, #63, #84, #126, #168, and #268, which can accommodate 17-1/4” diameter discs.

According to the accession correspondence, the music box and accompanying discs were purchased by the donor in Worcester, Massachusetts, July 25. 1901

This flute was made by William G. Schulze in New York, New York around 1880 to 1890. It is a 12-keyed flute made of rosewood with nickel silver ferrules and keys. This flute has a medallion that is engraved:

WM G.SCHULZE
MAKER
NEW YORK

William G. Schulze (1856- c1907) was a manufacturer and importer of clarinets, flutes and other musical instruments in New York. Schulze began his career as a student of musical instrument maker Alfred Badger, and worked in New Haven, Connecticut before opening up his shop in New York.

This music strip was made by an undetermined maker in France, around 1888-1892. It is a Melotrope perforated paper music strip for a mechanical piano player that is placed on top of a keyboard that depresses the keys. It is strip [no number] - Gamme, with a range of 37 notes. This strip is accessioned with Melotrope piano player (Cat. MI.30409.01).

This instrument features U. S. Patent #371422, dated October 11, 1887, by Jules Carpentier for a mechanical keyboard player.

This music box disc was made by Regina Music Box Co. in Rahway, New Jersey, around 1897-1899. It is Regina Disc #4077 - Poet and Peasant Overture, by Franz von Suppé. This disc is playable in a Regina Disc Music Box that can accommodate a 27” diameter disc.

This disc features the following patents:

U. S. Patent #417649, dated December 17, 1889 by Oskar Paul Lochmann for a music plate for mechanical instruments.

U. S. Patent #500374, dated June 27, 1893 by Gustav A. Brachhausen and Paul Riessner for a note-plate for music boxes.

This music strip was made by an undetermined maker in France, around 1888-1892. It is a Melotrope perforated paper music strip for a mechanical piano player that is placed on top of a keyboard that depresses the keys. It is strip [no number] - Gamme, with a range of 37 notes. This strip is accessioned with Melotrope piano player (Cat. MI.30409.01).

This instrument features U. S. Patent #371422, dated October 11, 1887, by Jules Carpentier for a mechanical keyboard player.

This music box disc was made by Mermod Freres, in St. Croix, Switzerland, around 1896-1898. It is Stella Disc #418 - "Rippling Waves," by Juventino Rosas. This disc is playable in Mermod Freres music box models, #63, #84, #126, #168, and #268, which can accommodate 17-1/4” diameter discs.

According to the accession correspondence, the music box and accompanying discs were purchased by the donor in Worcester, Massachusetts, July 25. 1901

This music strip was made by an undetermined maker in France, around 1888-1892. It is a Melotrope perforated paper music strip for a mechanical piano player that is placed on top of a keyboard that depresses the keys. It is strip No. 144 - EN R'VENANT D'LA R'VUE (March), by Desormes, with a range of 37 notes. This strip is accessioned with Melotrope piano player (Cat. MI.30409.01).

This instrument features U. S. Patent #371422, dated October 11, 1887, by Jules Carpentier for a mechanical keyboard player.

This clarinet was made by Buffet-Crampon & Cie. In Paris, France in 1890. It is an Albert System clarinet in A, serial #726D, made of grenadilla with German silver keys and rings. This clarinet is stamped:

[lyre]
BUFFET
Crampon & Cie
A PARIS
BC
W.H. CUNDY
BOSTON

William H. Cundy was a music publishing and woodwind instrument retailing business in Boston, Massachusetts. The firm started in 1855 and by 1900 became Bettony-Cundy as Harry Bettoney (1867-1953) became manager of the development and expansion of the Cundy-Bettoney instrument company. W. H. Cundy retired from the business in 1907.

This music box disc was made by Mermod Freres, in St. Croix, Switzerland, around 1896-1898. It is Stella Disc #328 - "Narcissus," by Ethelbert Nevin. This disc is playable in Mermod Freres music box models, #63, #84, #126, #168, and #268, which can accommodate 17-1/4” diameter discs.

According to the accession correspondence, the music box and accompanying discs were purchased by the donor in Worcester, Massachusetts, July 25. 1901

This piano player was made by Jules Carpentier in Paris, France, around 1888-1892. It is a Melotrope mechanical piano player that is placed on top of a keyboard that depresses the keys. The instrument has a range of 37 notes, is hand cranked, and plays perforated cardboard strips. Accessioned with 6 books of music, mounting brackets, and custom box. The donor did not include the hand fly wheel.

This instrument features U. S. Patent #371422, dated October 11, 1887, by Jules Carpentier for a mechanical keyboard player.

This horn was made by Joseph Higham in Manchester, England, around 1881-1898. It is a baritone horn, serial #43270, made of silver-plated brass, with 3 piston valves. The horn is engraved:

1st CLASS
EXHIBITION
PRIZE MEDAL
AWARDED
LONDON 1862 & DUBLIN 1865
TO
J. HIGHAM
MAKER
127
STRANGEWAYS
MANCHESTER
ENGLAND
43270
LYON & HEALY
SOLE AGENTS
CHICAGO

Joseph Higham (1818-1883) established his business at 127 Strangeways in Manchester, England in 1842. From about 1881 to 1898, Higham was in partnership with Lyon & Healy in Chicago as sole agents to sell his instruments in the United States.

As indicated in the inscription, Higham was awarded 1st class prize medals for his musical instruments at The International Exhibition of 1862, or Great London Exposition and The International Exhibition of Arts and Manufactures held in Dublin in 1865.

This music box disc was made by Mermod Freres, in St. Croix, Switzerland, around 1896-1898. It is Stella Disc #224 - Carmen - "Song of the Torreador," by Georges Bizet. This disc is playable in Mermod Freres music box models, #63, #84, #126, #168, and #268, which can accommodate 17-1/4” diameter discs.

According to the accession correspondence, the music box and accompanying discs were purchased by the donor in Worcester, Massachusetts, July 25. 1901

This flute was made by Alfred G. Badger in New York, New York around 1875 to 1892. It is a Boehm system flute made of silver with an ebony end cap. This flute is marked:

A. G. BADGER
MAKER
NEW YORK

This disc features the following patents:

U. S. Patent #417649, dated December 17, 1889 by Oskar Paul Lochmann for a music plate for mechanical instruments.

U. S. Patent #500374, dated June 27, 1893 by Gustav A. Brachhausen and Paul Riessner for a note-plate for music boxes.

This cornet was made by C.G. Conn in Elkhart, Indiana in 1896. It is a B-flat/A cornet, serial #36954, made of silver plated brass with gold plate inside the bell, and has 3 piston valves. This cornet has a rare engraving with both "Elkhart" and "New York":

MADE
BY
C. G. CONN
ELKHART, IND.
NEW YORK

The second valve on the cornet is stamped “PAT. JUNE [/] 15, 1886” which refers to United States Patent #343888 granted to Charles G. Conn for “Improvements in Cornets, and other Piston-Valve Musical Instruments.”

This cornet was used by the donor’s father, John Grason Steffey (1867-1931), as an amateur musician in the Williamsport area of Maryland.

This music box disc was made by Regina Music Box Co. in Rahway, New Jersey, around 1897-1899. It is Regina Disc #4043 - "El Capitan (March)," by John Philip Sousa. This disc is playable in a Regina Disc Music Box that can accommodate a 27” diameter disc.

This disc features the following patents:

U. S. Patent #417649, dated December 17, 1889 by Oskar Paul Lochmann for a music plate for mechanical instruments.

U. S. Patent #500374, dated June 27, 1893 by Gustav A. Brachhausen and Paul Riessner for a note-plate for music boxes.

This German Scheitholt type zither was likely made by "Dr." Sidney A. Tilton in Licking County, Ohio, about 1885-1890. It has a trapezoidal shaped body made from walnut, with a metal nut and bridge, five strings (two melody and three drones), 15 metal frets, 1 round sound hole and 1 heart-shaped sound hole, 5 tuning pins, and a rounded head.

As per the collector Anne Grimes, "Dr." Tilton was not a medical doctor but was known for expertise in the use of herbal medicine. He was left a widower with two small daughters, Erma and Myrtle. Myrtle was blind. "Dr." Tilton made Myrtle the dulcimer and taught her to play it when she was a little girl. Later he bought his daughters a piano. Myrtle and her father sometimes gave concerts, she on the dulcimer and he on the fiddle, playing old-time songs and tunes such as "The Irish Washerwoman." After Myrtle attended the State School for the Blind in Columbus, Ohio, her repertoire widened.

Anne Grimes (1912-2004) was an American journalist, musician, and historian of American (particularly Midwestern) folklore. Grimes studied voice and piano at Ohio Wesleyan and initiated graduate studies at Ohio State University. Following her education, Grimes was a music teacher, music and dance critic, and radio host. After WWII, Grimes began collecting and documenting folk songs throughout Ohio, as well as collecting Appalachian dulcimers and zithers. She would continue this work, performing, recording, and lecturing on instruments from her collection throughout the rest of her career.