The history of the music box dates back centuries. Today, music boxes are available in any size from small portable pieces to larger ones much like furniture. The earlier music boxes were usually made by watchmakers and were typically powered by clockwork. The Swiss musical boxes were one of the first to be produced in bulk mainly due to the success of watches from Switzerland.  

Metal disks were used to make the first few music boxes in the 18^th century. In the coming years however a switch over was made to cylinders. These cylinders were made of metal and a spring was used to power them. In 1862 after an invention by Paillard, removable cylinders were introduced and this way melody could be changed.  

In the late 19^th century with the production of models, much like the Polyphon, which substituted the cylinders with interchangeable metal disks, the cylinder-based music boxes speedily became marginal. By the end of the 19^th century, player pianos were introduced replacing the Reuge musical boxes. These were more melodious and louder and were themselves replaced by gramophones with the additional feature of playback. The Reuge musical box has a history with great innovations made to better the quality.