‘Piccolo’ music box making rare appearance

CHARLOTTE, Mich. — Stanton’s Auctions is conducting its Spring Music Machine Auction April 24-26 at the Eaton County Fairgrounds, 1025 S. Cochran Avenue, Charlotte, Michigan. The live, on-site auction begins at 2 p.m. Thursday, April 24, and 9 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, April 25-26.

Hundreds of music boxes, nickelodeons, phonographs, bird boxes and cages, jukeboxes,

slot machines and all types of rare and interesting musical and mechanical machines are being offered from estates and collections gathered from across the United States and Canada.

Items among the nearly 1,000 lots offered include a rare Mills Violano Virtuoso (automatic single player violin), an excellent Regina Style 35 automatic changer in an original finish mahogany cabinet with art glass (stained and leaded glass) front, complete with 12 -15 1/2-inch discs, crank and drawer; a Wurlitzer 1100 juke box; a Western Electric nickelodeon; a Kalamazoo Duplex; and a Mermod Freres “Ideal Sublime Harmonie Piccolo” cylinder music box that was in the Greenough family of Vermont for 80 years.

This Mermod Freres “Piccolo” cylinder music box is housed in a heavily carved mahogany case with an impressive, heavily carved and matching multi-drawer base cabinet. The mechanism plays a 24 1/2-inch cylinder, six of which are included. There is also a tune indicator and mandolin attachment. It has a three-section comb with no broken teeth. All of the tune sheets are included in the original booklet that was supplied at the time of the original purchase. Additionally, the dealer’s celluloid tag is intact: “Hermann H. Ockel,” Providence, R.I. The large celluloid sheet is also intact on the inside of the cover.

Brochures and catalogs for the Spring Music Machine Auction are available for free by contacting Stanton’s Auctioneers of Vermontville, Michigan, at 517-726-0181 or stantonsauctions@sbcglobal.net, or visit www.stantons-auctions.com for more information.

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