Three bird "bird boxes" are very rare. Our collection includes an even rarer 4 bird music box or serinette. The "bird box" doesn't play music in the style of traditional music boxes, but uses tiny organ pipes, in conjunction with a pinned barrel, to mimic the sounds of birds. The taxidermied birds in the cage move their wings, heads and beaks in relation to the sounds of the small pipes. The effect is very realistic. The early boxes of this type were at first used to encourage pet canaries to sing. Later in the 1890 to 1910 period, they were used as children's toys.

This small (under 24" high) phonograph made by the Outing Talking Machine Co. looks like a small spice cabinet when the stained glass doors are closed. As the music plays, a man dances with the demure maiden in a tiny mirrored ballroom.

An unusual feature of this phonograph is a cast "piano" harp, complete with tunable strings stretched over bridges that are in turn glued to a "sound board" . The builders no doubt thought that this resulted in a richer, more resonant sound, as the round hole directly behind the strings is the opening of the "horn" of the phonograph.