Sweet music

Kristine Willems loves the sound of a music box. The tinkling notes make the Melbourne mother of four completely forget herself. In fact, the moment she hears them she’s transported to a different time and place. “Music boxes sound like fairies dancing,” says Kristine, with a dreamy, faraway look on her face. “They make me feel like a kid again. I don’t know why exactly,” she adds with a shrug. “It’s just… they’re beautiful and I love them.”

The 33-year-old Notebook: reader has loved music boxes since she was a child and her collection is a huge part of her life. It sits in an old-fashioned crockery cabinet in her living room and Kristine can often be found nearby. “I play them all... It’s such a quiet, pretty sound and when you’ve got four kids, listening to something quiet is precious.”

Kristine’s collection includes 21 music boxes. She did have 22, but one came to an untimely end during a recent move from Queensland. Kristine was crushed, though not because the music box was particularly valuable or one of her favourites; she says it was simply difficult to see a part of her collection disappear.

“It was a swagman music box,” Kristine recalls. “He played ‘Waltzing Matilda’, but during the move his face was smashed and he broke off his base. I wasn’t devastated exactly, but I was upset. The collection means a lot to me.”

That’s not surprising when you consider many of Kristine’s music boxes have been with her since she was a girl. Her first was a roughly hewn wooden version made by her father, John Kippen, and she still has it. “This is it here,” says Kristine, lovingly cradling the musical toy in her hands. “My father had a broken toy and it had a little hurdy-gurdy inside. He didn’t want to throw it out so he made a wooden paddle and attached it to that. He gave it to me and I loved it. It plays ‘Swan Lake’ and it still works.”

Kristine says she imagines it was this gift from her father that started her passion. Her great-aunt Zora Stewart also fuelled the fire by giving her a music box in the shape of a Swiss chalet. But it was when Kristine had her first child in 1992 that her love for music boxes really took hold. “Annie was just a baby when I went into a $2 junk shop and there was a music box,” says Kristine. “It was a miniature cot with a little teddy holding a bottle. When the music played, the cot would rock from side to side. I knew Annie would love it so I bought it. It made us both so happy that I just felt I needed more.”

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