Two-Minute Read: From Music Boxes to Turntables

Music was always being played during Villa Finale’s heyday. Walter Mathis installed his own “surround sound” system throughout the house with different turntables and speakers, including one under the back porch for outdoor gatherings. Our current mini exhibit, From Music Boxes to Turntables featured in Villa Finale’s Dining Room, highlights Mathis’ varied taste in music and his appreciation for the history of how music was played and enjoyed.

Victorian Swiss music box with animated figures and bells. (From the collection of Villa Finale: Music and Gardens.)

The earliest way people could enjoy “recorded” music at home was with music boxes. These were made by watchmakers who could expertly handle small tools to create complicated musical mechanisms in boxes. On display is an early 19^th century pocket-sized music box that shows just how small and intricate these were. While there were some advances in recorded sound during the mid-19^th century, it was Thomas Edison’s laboratory that made the most headway with the technology. By the 1880s, Edison was selling recorded music on wax cylinders to be played on the company’s Graphophone.

Edison Wax Cylinder containers. (From the collection of Villa Finale: Museum & Gardens.)

By the 1920s, Edison cylinders had lost the recorded music battle to disc records made of a brittle resin called shellac. Played at 78 revolutions per minute, these records could only play about a five-minute recording per side. By the 1940s, with shellac being rationed to make explosives during World War II, the recording industry turned to vinyl. By this time, technology had evolved into the “microgroove” and long-play era where 33 RPM records allowed up to 40 minutes of recorded music per disc. On display are early examples of records from the Mathis collection as well as more contemporary recordings. Come by Villa Finale to check out some of these titles – you and Walter Mathis may have the same musical tastes. (From Music Boxes to Turntables will be on display through the summer.)

From the collection of Villa Finale: Museum & Gardens.