Mira

Manufacturer Mermod Freres (Swiss (St. Croix, Switzerland), founded 1816)

Date1897-1905

Mediumwood, paper, metal

Dimensions12 × 13 × 7 1/2 in. (30.5 × 33 × 19.1 cm)

ClassificationsMusical Instruments

Credit LineGift of Donald E. Larew to the Farm House Museum. In the Farm House Museum Collection, Farm House Museum, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

Object numberUM2011.429

Status

On view

Collections

CultureSwiss

Label TextThis disk type music box resembles an illustrated ad for a small single comb Mira music box circa 1900. It is a rather standard design for a disk type box, the exception being its crank design. The removable crank for this box is concealed inside the cask. This is opposed to the majority of boxes with an external crank mounted on the side panel of the case. This music box plays 9¼ inch disks and is operated by placing the disk on the center wheel and pulling back the holding wheels at the back and front of the box. Once the disk is secure, one uses the crank lever to turn the internal spring via the shaft in the front right of the box. Then it is a simple matter of turning the play lever to PLAY and dialing in the playback speed using the lever at the back of the box. This would allow tunes of different tempos to be put on a standard disk that may have otherwise removed too much metal from a disk. ___________________ From the University Museums Collections Handbook, vol. 2, 2025: The companies that produced the Mira and Stella music boxes were some of the more prolific Swiss music manufacturers. The St. Croix-based Mermod Freres produced the Mira, pioneering the cylinder and disk music box development. Examples of both types of music boxes can be seen in the Farm House Museum’s collection of nearly twenty music boxes. Size for size, Miras are arguably the ﬁnest-sounding disk music boxes ever produced. Aggressive marketing and cheaper components of the disk type music box made the cylinder type obsolete by 1895 and manufacturers who refused to adopt the improved disk type boxes went out of business. The larger Mira music boxes are regarded as having the best tonal quality and workmanship of all disk types and are valued highly by collectors. This 1897−1905 disk type music box resembles an illustrated ad for a small single comb Mira music box circa 1900. It is a standard design for a disk type box except for its crank design. The removable crank for this box is concealed inside the cask. Mermod Freres won Honorable Mention in 1893 at the Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition for their “important improvements” on the music box.

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