Grandma's old music box

Growing up, I spent a lot of time at my maternal grandma's house. I loved to roam around her pasture and woods, and there were cousins up the road that I enjoyed playing with.

Here's one of the fondest memories of my childhood: Right beside Grandma's bed on a bedside table sat a music box. Actually, the top part was the music box, and the bottom part held a comb, brush, and other items a lady might use to beautify herself.

When my mom's older sister, Aunt Ruby, knew she didn't have a lot of time left in this world, she gave me two family mementos: her grandmother's (my great-grandmother's) ice cream dishes, and Grandma's old music box.

I suppose if I could have chosen any item of Grandma's, the music-box would be what I'd have picked.

Oh, the old thing looks awful, with the plastic-like outside curled and falling off. The brush and the little containers that I suppose were for rouge or something are broken. It's a mess.

When Aunt Ruby gave it to me, the music-box played, but it didn't play very long; when I was a child, I remembered winding that thing up and it seemed like it would go for five minutes. Still hearing that thing play whisked me instantly back to my childhood.

And then it stopped working. I've talked about seeing if it could be fixed for a long, long time. I didn't think it would be cheap, so I put it off on that account for quite awhile. Then I sort of forgot about it, unless I was dusting in the spare bedroom; then I'd see it and wish it still played.

Finally a few weeks ago, we took it to a clock shop in Oak Grove, asking for an estimate: The guy said it would be at least $125, but was confident he could get it working.

This morning he called; he explained to me why it had stopped working; I'd tell you here what the problems were, but I've already forgotten.

"Do you have any idea when this was made?" he asked.

"Well, I've always assumed the early 1900's, because I was told it was a gift from my grandpa to my grandmother around the time of their wedding."

"I found a date on it," he said, excitement in his voice. "It's dated 1871."

Whoa! And it still plays, after all the use it got from me and my cousins? Wow!

"This is the loudest music box I've ever heard in my life," he said. And then I heard it playing in the background as we talked.

When we get it home, I'll make a video so my readers can hear it playing.

Oh, the final cost was $143. That's not so very expensive for something that takes me back to childhood.

A note to my cousin Carolyn: Did you or Aunt Mary know that things was so old? Did you hear a different story than I did, about how it was acquired? Did Benjamine Harrison Stevens give Clara Jane Smith a second-hand gift? Inquiring minds want to know! Looking at dates on the family tree, I'm now wondering if this was a gift from Grandma's dad to her mother on their wedding. Maybe all these years I've been a full generation behind!

Added later: That date may be on the workings of the music box, but the actual box couldn't have been made before 1902; I just found out HERE that "Won't You Come Home, Bill Bailey" was written in 1902, and that's one of the songs it plays.