Juke boxes

mantiques

So put another dime in the jukebox baby, says Paul Stewart

VINTAGE COLLECTIVE MEMBER

CAN THERE BE a single object that better embodies the colourful, sexual, rhythmic explosion of the youth of the 1950s? The kids’ new-found spending power, their local hang-out diners, and the wave of rock’n’roll that swept across the world and changed it forever – it’s all there in one big box.

The whole world is yours for the price of a dime.

Click your fingers as you sip your frothy coffee to the latest sounds, or clear back chairs and tables to create a dance hall, baby. The jukebox has everything you need.

The automatic phonograph, as it was... ahem...

coined by the Automatic Music Instrument Corporation (AMI), actually made its debut in 1927, slapbang in the middle of Prohibition. The consequent gloom was easily and cheaply lifted by this miracle machine, which found itself in bars and speakeasies across America. Its automatic record-changer was a vast improvement on the hand-cranked Entertainer that, for 20 years or more, had been playing ten-inch discs chosen, one song at a time, by the customer.

In 1935, Seeburg beat out the competition by using coloured phenolic resins and lights to great

AMI Model J, 1959. Price: 6,900 euros (£4,800)

www.vintagexplorer.co.uk

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mantiques effect, enticing patrons to come make their musical selection and part with their cash. Instead of hiding away its secret workings, many models had a visible mechanism that captivated the eye as much as the music to the ear. And by 1940, the name jukebox (from ‘juke joint’, or rowdy house in Black American parlance) was becoming firmly attached to these garish music machines.

Even if you had a player at home, this was nothing like playing records with Mom and Pop: you had instant access to dozens of songs from the Hit Parade (including their B-sides) and could get up and turn a café into an impromptu party if the mood took you. The proprietor had almost carte blanche over which records to play, opting to either mirror or ignore any trends broadcast on the airwaves. Some machines had popularity counters and the discs with the fewest plays got replaced with newer tunes. But they probably all had one or two selections that survived the decades, reflecting the unwavering loyalty of the owner or a favoured patron.

There was also an option of a silent record offered by some models – an actual piece of vinyl with grooves but no sound on it whatsoever! Can you imagine being the teen who paid for a silent record?

Or maybe it was an option provided for the older clientele whose regular drinking establishment had been radically changed by this noisy invasion.

Post-war prosperity and economic boom on both

AMI Model Continental 1, 1961.

Price: 9,500 euros (£6,600)

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AMI Model Continental 2, 1962.

Price: 10,900 euros (£7,500)

www.vintagexplorer.co.uk

Seeburg Model KD200, 1957.

Price: 7,900 euros (£5,500)

sides of the Atlantic meant that, for the first time, teenagers were working, earning, and looking for excitement. “I got some money in my jeans and I’m really gonna spend it right...” in the words of Eddie Cochran.

Some American diners installed booth or table selector units, with each unit linked to a single jukebox where the selections stacked up in a queue ready to be played. The small units had all the songs listed and a slot for coins so you could select and pay without having to leave your table or the privacy of your booth.

Like most sparks of genius in which a fascinating concept is combined with great design and fantastic execution, jukeboxes still weave a magical spell for collectors today. The most famous name of all is probably Wurlitzer, who produced their iconic range of machines in the 1940s. Employing the creative hand of designer and engineer Paul Fuller to challenge the stream of machines produced by the likes of Rock-Ola and Seeburg, the illuminated, colour-changing pilasters, bubble tubes and shiny chrome of the ‘1015’ made it a spectacular success. Selling more than 56,000 in just 18 months from 1946 – it resembled a luxurious, automobile-like time machine, which never slept and played at your command.

Its closest rival the Rock-Ola (named, believe it or not, after its founder, David C. Rockola!) retaliated with their ‘Magic Glow’ series, selling www.vintagexplorer.co.uk

Seeburg Model G, 1953.

Price: 5,900 euros (£4,100)

‘You could get up and turn a café into an impromptu party if the mood took you’

Fact: it was only in 1955 that the British government relaxed import restrictions on luxury goods and the first American jukebox arrived in the UK. By the end of 1957, we had 8,000 of them!

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mantiques

Wurlitzer Model 2300, 1959.

Price: 5,900 euros (£4,100)

Wurlitzer Model 1900, 1956.

Price: 8,500 euros (£5,900)

thousands from their 500,000 square-foot factory in Chicago. Tall, illuminated, cathedral-like, their mechanisms were visible through a top clear window.

In the 1950s the jukebox entered its golden age. Mirroring the cars that the young kids aspired to drive, fins, grilles and fenders started to appear. Rock-Ola even produced a juke so small that the whole thing could be mounted on the wall – thanks to the emergent seven-inch 45 rpm format single replacing the olds 78 (which actually staggered on into the 1960s).

Inevitably, technology and the fickle demands of a fast-paced youth has meant that CDs replaced the vinyl version of the jukebox, before digital files and earpod iPods finally sent the imposing machines packing. Although Wurlitzer did produce a re-creation of their classic ‘1015’ in 1986.

Named ‘One More Time,’ it proved so popular that they updated it in 1990 to play CDs. You may still see a proper Vintage jukebox as a feature in many a British bar or café. They were so robust and made in such high numbers that around £2,000 to £4,000 can still secure a working model, depending on condition and reliability. But, as a showpiece or attention grabber at home, surely, you can do no better than get yourself your own jukebox – and choose the 45s to go in it.ve All Jukeboxes featured are available to buy from www.pauls50s.de and www.molecula.co.uk.

Original manuals courtesy David van Etten, The Netherlands: www.jukeboxhistory.info

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Wurlitzer Model 1650, 1952. Price: £4,000 www.molecula.co.uk

www.vintagexplorer.co.uk

Rock-Ola ‘Magic Glow’ Model 1422, 1946.

Price: 6,900 euros (£4,800)

Rock-Ola Model 1475 Tempo 1, 1959. Price: 10,900 euros (£7,500)

WHERE TO FIND YOUR VERY OWN JUKEBOX

Rock-Ola Model 1434, 1952.

Price: 5,900 euros (£4,100)

www.vintagexplorer.co.uk

If you want to see some of these incredible machines up close, chat to the experts or indeed buy your own, The Jukebox & Retro Fair takes place in both Brighton and Chessington, bringing together leading British and European dealers.

The next fair is the weekend of 31st October (See page 46 for details).

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