music box balm

Music from a music box [sample from elsewhere] ... it's antiquated, perhaps, but when it comes to soothing the savage beast, it gets my vote. My stepmother gave me one -- a real one from the old days -- and now and then, better than Valium, I crank it up and float away.

A BBC article begins:

Devices for playing music come and go - cassette tapes, MP3 players and CDs have all had their time as digital downloads take over.

But one system invented some 200 years ago lives on.

In the mountains of western Switzerland, one company still makes automatic music boxes for enthusiasts around the world.

Reuge is considered the last major manufacturer of a traditional device that once rivalled watches as one of Switzerland's greatest exports.