Does anyone know which individual(s) could possibly be credited
for starting the mechanical music hobby?  Or is this rather difficult
to determine?

I know that Jake Debence of Franklin, Pennsylvania, started out in
the 1940s, as well as Charles Bovey in Virginia City, Montana.  The
Sanders family in Deansboro, New York, opened up their Musical Museum
in 1948 (and, coincidentally, the Musical Box Society was founded
a year later).

I read in one source that the Sanders started collecting instruments
as early as 1936, and this was just several years after the instruments
fell out of favor, for the most part.

I would be interested in finding out more information on this.  Thanks.

Mike Roseboom