These were sold by Nicole Freres in the early 1900s. They were made
in Switzerland. Mermod Freres made the Stella. Harmonia came in 42,
54, 78, 84, 156 note, some with duplex combs and one with bells. They
were never sold in large quantities, are scare today. I heard one once
and it sounded very nice with good volume.
Used projection-less discs like Stella; the Stella all were duplex comb
and one major problem was that they were subject to broken teeth,
especially on the vertical comb that was hidden by the mechanism cover
plate. I don't know about broken teeth with Harmonia. Ref.: Bowers'
Encyclopedia, pp. 107, 112.
There is also a bit of info in Ord-Hume book, The Music Box -
A Guide for Collectors. Both books can be purchased from Nancy Fratti
<musicbox@sover.net>
Larry Greenfield
|