Hi everyone,  I just bought a wonderful device in Amsterdam, and
was hoping that someone could tell me what it is.  It's brand new,
but since it was the last one that the shop had (the "floor model"),
I took it without any kind of box, booklet, or identifying marks.
I have suspicions that it is manufactured in Germany, but no real
information to confirm this.

It is basically a nice, simple wooden box about 10 by 4 by 3 inches,
which accepts short paper strips of hole-punched music to play songs
on a 20-note comb.  The paper strips are about 3 inches wide by 18
inches long, and in order to make the holes in the strips you have to
punch the little black dots out yourself (with a sturdy, included hole-
puncher).  A hand-crank mechanism rolls the strips through the box and
over the comb.

Of course, the reason I bought this device was so that I could make my
own music strips, although the shopkeepers told me that several strips
of music are available for this toy (all of which require hand-punching
of the holes with the special punch).  It has a surprisingly loud and
clear sound for something of its size.  The internal mechanism is only
about 3 by 2 by 1 inches, and the rest of the hollow box is used to
store the paper strips and the hole puncher.

I paid 210 Dutch guilders for this thing, which is about $105.00
American dollars.  I've never seen anything like it in the U.S. or in
a catalog, but maybe I've been in the dark?  Does anyone know what this
thing is, who makes it, where I can find more music for it, and if I
paid a fair price for it?

I figure that $105.00 wasn't too much to spend for a mechanical instru-
ment which offers a fairly simple means of producing your own music
strips, since I've been looking for such a device for quite some time.
Any feedback or info would be appreciated.  Thanks very much!

Manda
Manda Clair Jost