The Music Box Society International (MBSI) is a
non-profit organization
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
dedicated to the enjoyment, study and preservation of all automatic
musical instruments. Founded in 1949, MBSI now numbers several thousand members with representation in 50 US states and nineteen other countries. It focuses on
music boxes of all sizes, from small, hand-held wind-up boxes, to
fairground organ
A fairground organ (french: limonaire) is a French pneumatic musical organ covering the wind and percussive sections of an orchestra. Originated in Paris, France, it was designed for use in commercial fairground settings to provide loud music ...
s or room sized
orchestrions, including
musical clock
A musical clock is a clock that marks the hours of the day with a musical tune. They can be considered elaborate versions of striking or chiming clocks.
Elaborate large-scale musical clocks with automatons are often installed in public place ...
s and snuff boxes, singing bird boxes,
player piano
A player piano (also known as a pianola) is a self-playing piano containing a pneumatic or electro-mechanical mechanism, that operates the piano action via programmed music recorded on perforated paper or metallic rolls, with more modern im ...
s (reproducing pianos, nickelodeons), and automatic musical instruments of any kind.
External links
The Musical Box Society International
{{Mechanical instruments
Mechanical musical instruments