Mechanical Music Through the Ages

A collection of Mechanical Music and Arcade Machines – highlighting examples of the development in mechanical entertainment over time.

Manopan 1887 – (German)

The Manopan was patented in 1886 by Charles F. Pietschmann & Sonne. Many versions were made, but the model pictured below is a 24 note model known as Model 1.  It had a sliding drawer adjacent to the music feed which acted as a swell box enabling the music to be louder when open and softer when closed. The perforated music was in strips, the earliest of which were stitched together and had cloth hinges for continuous operation.