Greetings!  My name is Dan Tracy and I have been a member of MMD for
only a short time.  My interest in mechanical music is primarily in
music boxes and I stumbled across MMD purely by accident while doing a
web search for Reuge musical movements.  I happened to "hit" one of the
archive pages and liked the look of it.  Through the good services of
MMD I have met people with like interests and am enjoying the Digest.

Now, I would like to ask the group for some information.  My parents
recently bought a Polyphon record-playing music box at an auction and
I would like some info on it if you would be so kind.

The box is in good shape, with a few minor scratches here and there.
There is a picture of three stalks of grass and a tulip tied together
with a ribbon scribed on the top.  On the front is the winder, which
uses a back-and-forth ratcheting mechanism, and the start-stop knob.
Both work smoothly.

Inside is the word "Polyphon" printed on the top of the lid.  The box
uses 8" (20 cm) records and has a 40-tooth comb.  One tooth, the second
from the highest, is missing.  The brass casting for the base of the
movement has "Polyphon" molded into it, with the serial number of
12174 stamped below it.

There is also a label nailed just above the movement with the words
"Tempo-Regulator" on it.  The regulator handle to the right moves, but
seems to need a bit of work as all it seems to do is bring the box to
a dead halt.  The movement is smooth-running, though it is about 5 or
so degrees out of alignment with the zero-gap in the records.

The 12 records we have are of three distinct varieties, though
there are some similarities to all.  All have the Polyphon trade-mark
somewhere on them.  This is a picture of a woman in gold/yellow wearing
a classical dress and a wreath on her head.  She carries a small harp
in her left and a wreath in her outstretched right hand.  There is a
shooting six-pointed star above with the word "Polyphon" in the tail,
and the words "Schutz-Marke   Trade-Mark" below.  Some records have
Leipzig printed on them.

I would appreciate it if anyone could give me some background on this
music box.  How old it is and any history behind it would be great!
I would also ask if anyone could give me a ballpark figure on what a
box like that should be priced at.  We aren't planning to sell it,
but would like the info for mostly curiosity's sake.

I thank you all for your help!  Please post the info to MMD or you can
send it to me at dtracy@compufort.com

Dan Tracy

 [ Welcome to MMD, Ken.  Search in the MMD Archives for "Value" and
 [ "Music Box" and you can read earlier articles on your question.
 [ Out music box folks will be happy to have another Polyphon fan
 [ with us!  -- Robbie