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Simple instruments like the wind-blown Aeolian harp suggest an ancient history of automatic music originating with the discovery of music in nature, in conch shells for example. The 19th century golden age of invention brought Mechanical Music Machines that performed with a clarity unequalled by modern hi-fi. Digitally programmed by pinned barrels, punched disks, cards or rolls, they re-played tunes on real instruments. The reedy sounds emanating from the ear tubes of Edison's Phonographs (1877) were no match in vibrancy or volume but included a vital new ingredient that was to prove decisive - the human voice. As such, these were the true forerunners of the jukebox which became the public purveyor of popular music from the late 1920s.

Sirdar Polyphon

The musical movement behind this game was imported from the Polyphon Company of Leipzig, Germany to be built into a target shooting game. Insert one penny and a tune is played via the musical disc above, and the coin falls to the soldier's rifle. Turn the small knob to aim then pull back and release the plunger. If your penny goes through the slot in the centre of the target, it is returned via the chute on the left. Patent No. GB189825067

K Bender & Co. 1898