Musical Clock Exhibit Room

Musical clocks are clocks that include a musical movement, playing on the hour or as an alarm at a specified time. The music can be from a carillon, organ, dulcimer, bells, chimes, trumpets or tuned steel teeth. The latter can be of the cylinder or disc type. This Exhibit Room contains examples of musical clocks that contain cylinder and disc musical movements.

The cylinder musical box developed out of the watchmaker's trade. As mentioned in the text at the Museum Entrance, Antoine Favre claims to have used tuned steel teeth in a pocket-watch in 1796. Musical movements were placed in pocket watches and mantle clocks, cuckoo clocks and long case clocks. As time passed, the musical movements grew larger and in the late 1800's the disc musical movements were developed and incorporated in clocks. At their peak, around the turn-of-the-century, exquisite disc musical movements were placed in large hall clocks.

Please enjoy your tour through this Exhibit room.

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