If you throw a franc into the machine, the show begins: the light turns on and the carousel and the dancers start to move to the music. The sounds are created by turning the roller, which uses the pins to tap the slats. Each slat produces a certain tone, so the width of the roller can be used to read the range of tones. The wooden box serves as a resonator.
Such music machines were very popular before the invention of the orchestrion or the juke-box. They were mostly placed in public places such as waiting rooms or restaurants. Switzerland was instrumental in the invention of music automatons as well as their distribution in the 19th century. Orders came from America, Russia, the Empire of China or India.