Probably rare is a programmable music box that I bought for a god-child
in about 1972.  It consisted a paper strip about 3 inches wide that was
fed by a small electric motor through a mechanism that sensed the holes
and plucked teeth on a comb.  There was about a dozen teeth in the
comb.  It came with 6 or so pre-punched tunes, but also had a few spare
blank strips that could be punched by the user.

As I recall the heavy paper strip had a treble staff and bars printed
on it so you would know where to punch to produce the tune.  It was a
do-it-yourself drafting board arranger.  The frame was about 10" long,
8" high and 4" wide to accommodate the 3" paper strip. The toy was very
well made of hardwood and not likely to fall apart.  I think it was
made in France, ran on a unique 12 volt battery, and was an expensive
toy at the time ($110).

I have both the toy train and the toy piano both played by the plastic
disk.  Found them in a thrift stores years ago.  Fun items for the kid
in me!

Bill Chapman

 [ It might be an early version of the "programmable music box"
 [ sold later by Sankyo Shoji Co., Ltd.  See the articles about
 [ the Sankyo 20-Note Paper Strip Movement indexed at
 [ http://mmd.foxtail.com/Archives/KWIC/S/sankyo.html  The related
 [ hand-cranked manivelle movement is described in articles indexed
 [ at http://mmd.foxtail.com/Archives/KWIC/M/manivelle.html
 [ -- Robbie