Victorian Ehrlich Patent Ariston Organette With 18 Discs Circa 1880 - 1890, SN 117696

Victorian Ehrlich Patent Ariston Organette with 18 discs. Circa 1880 - 1890, SN 117696. Eighteen discs in working order which include tunes such as; Auld Lang Syne, Bonnie Dundee, Liverpool Hornpipe, My Old Dutch, See Saw Waltz and St Patricks Day Gallop.

A charming piece of late Victorian technology that was all the rage at the end of the 19th Century but was very quickly replaced as musical technology moved on in the early 20th Century. In working order with all reeds appearing to operate correctly.

Ernst Paul Ehrlich (1849 -1925) recorded his patent for a musical instrument using punched tape in 1876. In 1882 he started producing in Leipzig the Ariston Organette which used perforated dardboard disc (patent 2777766) and compressed air from bellows to vibrate steel reeds (like a harmonica). Levers operated by the holes in the tape or disc divert air to the appropriate reeds. The drive was made by a hand crank, which operated the bellows and moved the punched tape and/or the perforated disk. The instrument was easy and straightforward to use and tunes could be readily changed. The Ariston benefited from a large catalogue of over 5,000 discs which was one of its main selling points compared to cylinder type instruments with raised pins which were also common at this time.