A quick look into the jukeboxes history
Music is all around: in our headphones, in the shopping malls, in the cafes, in the bars — everywhere. It’s easy to use streaming services, but what was before? Before digital sources and tapes? It was jukeboxes. Pieces of art and music automates. If I asked you to imagine classic American diner from 60th, I’m sure it would have been a jukebox there.
So, let’s take a look into jukeboxes history.
Believe you or not, but the very first JB was created right after the first phonograph was born. In the end of 19th century Louis Glass installed in a corner of the bar his newest-fangled contraption: a coin-operated Edison Class M electric phonograph. It required a nickel to play and had four stethoscope-like listening tubes.
Let me remind you, that the Edison’s phonograph used wax cylinders as a sound source. If you think that your old tapes has the worst sound quality — try to listen to wax cylinder.
Fortunately, Emile Berliner developed the way for the transition process from cylinder-based phonographs to disc record-based ones. The new «listening machines» was born at the same time. In the 1906 the John Gabel Manufacturing Company produced the first automatic multi-selection coin-op phonograph in 1906.
Next friendly reminder: at that time people couldn’t amplify the sound. They only can use huge horns for gramophones, but it wasn’t enough for bars, for example. So, the next huge step in the record industry — the first commercial electric loudspeaker to be manufactured in 1924. A fully-electric phonograph with a true “loudspeaker” meant that an entire room of people could hear the music being played.
A typical jukebox from 20s — Link’s Autovox
Jukeboxe’s followed these innovations, but it wasn’t until 1937 that the music-playing machines began to be called “jukeboxes.” The origin of the name is believed to be derived from the word “jook” (other spellings include “jouk,” “juke,” and “jute”), which was used as a slang term for dancing and acting wildly or disorderly. The word “jukebox” most likely originated in the Southern states of the USA where African slaves went to “juke joints” after working the fields for some fun and dancing.
It would be fairly to say that JB’s popularity started to grow in the 30th. It was Great Depression in the USA, people needed something to relax and music could help. You didn’t need to buy nether your own gramophone (they were quite expensive, by the way), nor records. Just put a nickel into the machine and hear your favourite track.
That was the Golden age.
The end of the 30s — AMI’s Top Flight
When the popularity of JB started to rise, manufacturers comprehended what good design can catch customers eyes. JB were no longer just wooden boxes. Metal and plastic parts, lights, even tubes of cellophane worked into design.
In the late 40th, after WW 2 another great discovery in the vinyl records industry affected jukeboxes. RCA company presented new record’s format — thin, light and less diameter 45rpm records. Decades before records were made of shellac — kind of gum produced by insects. Records were thick, fragile and with diameter about 10 inches. What a challenge — to put a pile of this things into music machine, right? New format seemed to be made for jukeboxes (that’s not true, but this is an another story). Instead of ten or twenty records manufacturers could put up to hundred records in their machines.
Beauty of the 40s — Wurlitzer Victory Conversion with Rotary Wheel
At that ages Jukeboxe’s history went along with society changes. It’s not obvious, but let’s think about it. What were the main music genres in the 30th and 40th? Jazz, blues, swing. «Dirty» music, it was played in places like bars — places for adults, not for teenagers. But all changed in the 50th, when the era of rock-and-roll begun. This genre, unlike any music before it, belonged to the youth. Parents were crazy for it, they thought that this music leaded to immoral behaviour and made children degenerative. In the 50th teens were flocking to the diners and cafes to hanging out with friends and to listen to their favourite songs. Rock-and-roll formed teenage social life.
Jukeboxes supported teen’s hunger for rock-n-roll, they become a mania and its legacy in the pop culture of 50s was ensured.
Wurlitzer 2000 “Centennial” looks like an “American dream”. It’s all about 50s
There was another hided thing that amazed me. For sure you know about various ratings — The top 100 songs, Top 10 and so on. But I bet you have no guess that it took the way from jukeboxes. They had a tricky mechanism inside which can count how many times every song was played. It was easy, because one 7 inches record has only two songs — one on the each side. So, special guys could get inside the JB and took the statistics. Incredible, right?
Wurlitzer Model 1100, 1948
But every things ends. In the 60s music world has changed again. Rock music replaced rock-n-roll, the new bands played a lot of concerts, first festivals took their place. Teens didn’t need to spend their time in diners — they could went to the live shows. And you might known about pirate radio station which were plying rock all the day and all the night.
In 70s era of the disco clubs started — the night clubs became a new spots for hanging out. And in 80s Walkman brought us an opportunity to have our favourite music in the pocket. Private listening replaced public.
Did Jukeboxes stay in the past? Yes and no. Of course, their Golden age left decades ago, but there are a lot of enthusiasts who sell and buy jukeboxes, restore them, write about them. People, actually, like things can be touched. I think, that’s why vinyl records are back to popularity. Spotify is great, but feel the weight of the record, put it on the player and hear the slight scratch from the stylus — there is some magic in it.
Some links I used for this article
- https://www.jukeboxhistory.info/index.html — the history of American jukeboxes. Categorised by manufacturers, a lot of photos.
- https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/a21127/how-the-jukebox-got-its-groove/ — more details about the very first musical automats by Louis Glass
- https://www.homeleisuredirect.com/blog/jukeboxes/jukeboxes-complete-history.html and https://www.radiomuseum.org/forumdata/upload/Jukebox_History_rm2.pdf — detailed jukeboxes history
- https://blog.rockbot.com/the-evolution-of-the-jukebox-top-15-moments-in-jukebox-history — 15 significant events in the jukeboxes history
Bonus: the videos!
There are tonnes of jukeboxes videos on Youtube, I’ll share my favourites with you.
Seeburg Selectophone, 1933
Inside the Wurlitzer Model 1100, 1948
A guy tells how the mechanical automation in Wurlitzer Statesman works. Looks like a magic.
