In “The Musical Box” (Schiffer, $79.95), Arthur Ord-Hume dates the peak of mechanical music boxes around 1851 into the first decades of the last century, peaking around 1900.

Recorded music today comes on tapes or CDs. A few years ago it was on plastic or wax records. In the 1880s the music often came from metal discs made with holes that activated the notes on a ...

A few weeks ago, while visiting a friend, I was treated to the sounds of a record containing music taped from a barrel organ and a music box, titled "The Road to Heaven -- Mechanical Music for a ...

The inspiration for this portable, powerful chemistry set came not from the cutting edge but a decidely old-school source: a toy music box. IE 11 is not supported.