Made in Leipzig, Germany, about 1900, the music box has been part of the museum’s collections since 1956 but had not been displayed for at least 10 years until it reappeared early this month.
"I love seeing it back. It’s a real jewel in the crown for the First Great City Gallery," Toitu acting visitor experience manager Tim Cornelius said.
Such attractions reflected Dunedin’s transition from a small town — once termed "Mud-edin" because of its unpaved roads — to a "big international city", he said.
The Polyphon played "large metal disks which produce a rich, reverberant music box sound".
Mr Cornelius, who has worked at Toitu since the year 2000, said it was not only a familiar display at the museum, but also brought back childhood memories of similar devices.
His father, Rod, a retired antique dealer who now lives in Auckland, had long owned several music boxes. More than 2m tall, the Polyphon is coin-operated, using an old New Zealand penny, which can be bought at the museum’s reception.
At present, visitors can hear about 75 seconds of La donna e mobile ("The woman is fickle"), a canzone (lyrical song) from Giuseppe Verdi's 1851 opera Rigoletto.
It was initially mechanically-operated but had been converted to run on electricity.
Victorian Dunedin had the country’s best and most extensive range of shopping, and the Royal Arcade in Maclaggan St was a major attraction, drawing customers with novel entertainments like this music box, at Charles and Christina Fraser’s fruit shop, museum organisers said.
A writer named Gus described the delights of visiting the Royal Arcade and the Polyphon, in an article published in the Otago Witness on January 31, 1906.
"You place a penny in the slot, gather a number of music-lovers around you, and listen.
"You become a sort of Napoleon for the time being.
"You feel the music is yours, and so do the other people ... They move a respectful distance away leaving you a clear space in which to display your dignity," he wrote.
