Before mp3 players and before jukeboxes, there were big, beautiful music boxes

Thank you to mikesndbs for creating this video of antique mechanical music boxes and uploading it to YouTube so people could enjoy their beauty and their sound. 

The closest I have seen of anything like these was at The Biltmore Estate in Asheville. Of all the antique auctions and estate sales I have been to over the years, I just haven't come across anything like these. This collection is special. I can imagine when people heard these years ago they must have imagined Heaven to sound like this. 

My grandmother had a collection of little music boxes (made within the last 50 years) which she kept on her living room coffee table when I was growing up. I loved to watch the figurines rotate while the music played. But, my favorite thing to do was wind every single music box up as fast as I could, and listeb to them all playing at once. Wow! What an awesome sound! It would start out faced paced and beautifully chaotic, and eventually it would all slow down, still beautiful, and still chaotic.