A *Very* Confused Musical Item...
By Jim Canavan
As it gets into the holiday season, my mailbox is increasingly stuffed full of mail order catalogs. In today's batch, in the Hammacher Schlemmer Christmas catalog, I came across an item that I thought would give you folks a chuckle...it seems to cram every misconception about mechanical music machines into a single object!
"Animated Victrola Music Box. This decorative music box plays an assortment of 15 different holiday carols as a reel of punched paper passes through the cogs and wheels of its player piano type musical mechanism. The hand crank on its side rotates as the music plays, giving a miniature mouse a ride while two more mice act as conductor and audience. The scalloped horn displays intricate decals and has an inquisitive mouse poised to go inside. Wood grain effect plastic housing has two clear acrylic windows to watch the workings inside. Plugs into household outlet...$129.95."
YIKES! Even forgetting the common mistake of calling an outside horn gramophone a "Victrola"...this thing's a nightmare! The photo looks like a cartoon version of an early McTammany-type organette with a morning glory horn sticking out of the top. I'd love to talk to the whiz-kid who came up with this creation...he obviously isn't aware of the dangers of letting mice near a "player piano type musical mechanism"!!!
Jim Canavan
CYBRFLASH@aol.com
Alexandria, VA |
(Message sent Mon 28 Oct 1996, 20:46:13 GMT, from time zone GMT-0500.) |
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