jukebox

juke·box

(jūk'bŏks') pronunciation

n.
A money-operated phonograph or compact disk player, equipped with pushbuttons for the selection of particular recordings. See Regional Note at juke¹.

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Background

A jukebox is a coin-operated machine that plays music from a record or compact disc (CD) once a selection is made. Originally called nickelodeons, the term jukebox did not appear until the late 1930s and its origins are in dispute. Some believe it is derived from the African word jook, meaning to dance. Others link it to the juke joints—roadside bars located in the South and frequented by African Americans—that were popular at that time.

In its height of popularity in the mid-1950s, approximately 750,000 jukeboxes were in use across the United States. That number dipped during the 1970s and 1980s, but with the advent of CD technology and a growing antiques market, the number of jukeboxes presently in use is a solid 250,000.

History

In 1877, Thomas Edison invented the phonograph, a coin-operated music machine that played music from a wax cylinder. On November 23, 1889, Louis Glass installed a coin-operated phonograph in his Palais Royale Saloon located in San Francisco. It was called "nickel-in-a-slot" because that was the amount of money needed to make a selection. Later, the term was shortened to nickelodeon. In 1906, John Gabel invented the "Automatic Entertainer," a music machine that replaced the wax cylinder with 78-rpm disc recordings and offered several selections of records that could be played. Gabel's Automatic Entertainer dominated the market until the mid-1920s.

The jukebox remained something of a novelty arcade item until the invention of the electric amplifier. Without amplification, it was impossible for a large group of listeners to enjoy the music played by the jukebox. When Automated Musical Instruments Inc. (AMI) developed an amplifier in 1927, the popularity of the jukebox surged. It was especially popular in the illegal speakeasies of the Prohibition Era because it provided a cheap form of entertainment. AMI sold 50,000 of its amplified machines in one year, bringing to life the age of the jukebox.

During the Depression, record sales plummeted from $75 million in 1929 to $5 million in 1933. The growing popularity of the jukebox and the purchases by store owners that went along with it resurrected the waning music business, and by 1938, the industry had resurfaced at $25 million in sales. By 1940, there were 400,000 jukeboxes in use in the United States.

Three names were made during the 1940s and they remain synonymous with the juke-box industry. Seeburg, Rock-Ola, and Wurlitzer all manufactured jukeboxes at this time. Each company began by creating juke-boxes in the likeness of the radio, but in the 1940s, jukebox design came into its own with the help of a few great designers employed by the companies. Perhaps the best known is Paul Fuller, the designer behind the Wurlitzer models that pushed Wurlitzer to the top of the industry in the late-1940s and 1950s. With the use of rotating lights, art deco styled cabinets, and bubble tubes, Wurlitzer models were works of art. The most popular design was the Wurlitzer 1015 that was introduced in 1946 and became the biggest selling jukebox in history. In its original run, it sold a total of 56,246 boxes. In 1948, Seeburg offered its own innovation to the jukebox industry with the introduction of its Select-O-Matic 100, the first jukebox to include 100 selections. This technology allowed popular music to be played in the same venue as regional country, folk, jazz, and blues music—a variety that changed the music industry and its development completely. By 1956, jukeboxes with 200 selections were being manufactured.

Just as the proliferation of fast-food restaurants such as McDonald's and chain restaurants such as Houlihan's spelled doom for mom-and-pop establishments, the taped music played in the new gathering places signaled the end of the jukebox's glory. The introduction of cassette tapes and the declining production of 45-rpm records also added to the decreased popularity of jukeboxes. By the mid-1970s, the number of jukeboxes had fallen to 225,000.

The jukebox industry waned through the 1980s until a growing antiques market and new technology revived the industry. Refurbished classic models are collectables, and a Wurlitzer 1015 that first sold for $750 is now approximately $12,000. CD technology has breathed new life into the primary market, creating new models that house 100 CDs totaling 1,000 song selections. Since the late 1980s, the number of jukeboxes has creeped back up to 250,000. A remake of the Wurlitzer 1015 is even being manufactured by Wurlitzer of Germany. Rock-Ola machines are also still produced as well.

Raw Materials

Each jukebox is comprised of 700-800 different components, including wood cabinetry; injection-molded plastic pieces; electronic stereo equipment such as amplifiers, woofers and tweeters, turntable or disk player; lighting; mirrors; records or compact disks; and the selection mechanism. In some cases, the bulk of the components are purchased from outside suppliers. Other manufacturers create everything in-house except the records or compact disks.

The cabinets are constructed of multiple layers of wood, usually Italian poplar, Finland ply, walnut, olive ash, alder, maple, and Corinthian burl elm. Metal parts such as the grills, trim, and money changers are cast from metal dies. The grills and trim are plated with copper, nickel, and polished chrome.

Design

Some jukeboxes are replicas of original designs, others are original. In either case, a designer creates a prototype, or sample, of the jukebox to be manufactured using CAD/CAM software. The company produces a half dozen or so to place in restaurants or taverns. The prototypes are test-marketed for several months before they are approved for mass production.

The Manufacturing
Process

Although many of the components are machine-crafted, each jukebox is hand-assembled. Therefore, the assembly line moves very slowly. The factory can produce approximately 10 jukeboxes per day.

Plywood or solid wood sheets are cured and molded into the basic jukebox shape. Slots are cut into the sheets for the side metal trim. The cabinets are varnished and stained. After the varnish and stain has dried, the side metal trim is riveted onto the cabinet.
All sheet metal parts are laser cut.
The florescent lighting fixtures and bubble tubes are installed in the cabinets. A polarized light system allows the colors to change.
The electronic components are screwed to the inside of the door. The door is then attached to the cabinetry. The record/compact disk storage and changer mechanisms are installed inside the cabinetry.
After the jukebox is completed, it is sent to the testing room for 24-48 hours. Inspectors check all of the components: lighting, sound, selection, money changing, etc., to insure that they are working properly.

Quality Control

Quality control is key in the production of a jukebox. After each step in the production process, qualified personnel check the integrity of the work done. Final inspection of the jukebox is made on all its components prior to shipment.

The Future

Since the late 1980s, the demand for new jukeboxes has remained steady. Collecting refurbished jukeboxes has also gained in popularity and is now a multimillion dollar secondary market. Aficionados created their own organization—American Historic Juke-box Society—and meet regularly at vintage jukebox shows around the United States. No doubt the jukebox is as American as apple pie, and while there is nostalgia for a time already past, there will also be a market for new and vintage jukeboxes.

Where to Learn More

Books

Bunch, William. Jukebox America. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994.

Periodicals

Barol, Bill. "The Wurlitzer 1015." American Heritage (September/October 1989):28.

Boehlert, Eric. "Put Another Nickel In." Billboard (November 1, 1994): 92.

Botts, Rick. "The Jukebox." Popular Machanics. (June 1995): 74.

"Classic Jukebox Goes Mod." Design News (March 9, 1987): 30.

Gustaitis, Joseph. "The Jukebox: America's Music Machine." American History Illustrated (November/December 1989): 44.

Russell, Deborah. "Juke Biz Finds New Life Via New Technology, Markets." Billboard (October 19, 1991): 10.

Webb, Marchus. "Classical Music: Antique Apparatus hits it big with reproductions of class jukeboxes." RePlay Magazine (January 1989): 113.

Other

Amusement & Music Operators Association (AMOA). 401 N. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611-4267. (312) 644-6610. Fax: (312) 321-6869.

Rock-OlaManufacturing Corporation. 2335 208th St., Torrance, CA 90501. (310) 328-1306. Fax: (310) 328-3736. http://www.rock-ola.com/.

Houghton Mifflin Word Origins:

jukebox

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Origin: 1939

Music and entertainment are two ways in which African Americans have made major contributions to American culture. Put African-American music together with a national itch for technological invention, and you have the jukebox, a device in which the patrons of an eating or drinking establishment place coins in return for entertainment with recorded music.

Juke itself is an African word. In the Wolof language of West Africa,juke means "to make mischief" or "to lead a wicked, disreputable life." In America, in the Old South, the word managed to survive slavery and emancipation well into the twentieth century. A juke, juke house, or juke joint was a place to make mischief in the company of other like-minded revelers. Sometimes it was a tavern, sometimes a dance hall, sometimes a brothel. "Back yonder," recalled a writer in 1937, "a 'juke' was a place, usually a shack somewhere off the road, where a field negro could go for a snort of moonshine."

By the time the coin-operated record player was invented, the juke thus had a reputation as an exotic place for having a good time. Borrowing the supposed excitement of the juke along with its name, the jukebox spread throughout the country in the late 1930s. Time magazine noted in 1939, "Glenn Miller attributes his crescendo to the 'juke-box,' which retails recorded music at 5 cents a shot in bars, restaurants and small roadside dance joints."

Playing it costs more than a nickel nowadays, but the jukebox has survived the transition from records to CDs, becoming a sophisticated, high-tech musical accompaniment to good times in bars and eating places even today.

Oxford Grove Music Encyclopedia:

Jukebox

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A coin-operated gramophone that originated in American amusement arcades at the turn of the century; they became widespread in Europe and the USA in the 1930s and were an important medium for disseminating popular music.

Answer of the Day:

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Why is it called a jukebox?

Although no one is really sure, the popular theory is that "jukebox" comes from the word "jook," an African word meaning "mischievous" or "wicked." In the American South, descendents of African slaves used the term "jook house" for a shack that was used for dancing, celebrating and carousing. On this date in 1889, Louis Glass and William S. Arnold placed a coin-operated Edison cylinder phonograph in the Palais Royale Saloon in San Francisco. The cabinet had been refitted with a coin mechanism: the customer would drop in a nickel and hear a tune. It was called a Nickel-in-the-Slot, later shortened to "nickelodeon." There were no speakers; patrons listened to the music through one of four listening tubes, which looked like stethoscopes. Manufacturers of the item called them "automatic phonographs" or "coin-operated phonographs." Use of the word jukebox only dates back to sometime around the 1930s.

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From our Archives: Today's Highlights, November 23, 2009

Random House Word Menu:

categories related to 'jukebox'

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Random House Word Menu by Stephen Glazier

For a list of words related to jukebox, see:

Performance, Airplay, and the Recording Industry - jukebox: mechanical record-playing machine, esp. in bars and dance halls

Rhymes:

jukebox

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See words rhyming with "jukebox."

Bradford's Crossword Solver's Dictionary:

jukebox

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See crossword solutions for the clue Jukebox.

Wikipedia on Answers.com:

Jukebox

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For other uses, see Jukebox (disambiguation).

A Zodiac jukebox.

The jukebox when opened.

The internal workings of the jukebox.

A jukebox or nickelodeon is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that will play a patron's selection from self-contained media. The classic jukebox has buttons with letters and numbers on them that, when entered in combination, are used to play a specific selection.

Contents

1 History
2 Notable models
3 Demise
4 References
5 External links

History

Coin-operated music boxes and player pianos were the first forms of automated coin-operated musical devices. These instruments used paper rolls, metal disks, or metal cylinders to play a musical selection on the instrument, or instruments, enclosed within the device. In the 1890s these devices were joined by machines which used actual recordings instead of physical instruments.^[1]^[2] In 1890, Louis Glass and William S. Arnold invented the nickel-in-the-slot phonograph, the first of which was an Edison Class M Electric Phonograph retrofitted with a device patented under the name of Coin Actuated Attachment for Phonograph. The music was heard via one of four listening tubes.^[3] Early designs, upon receiving a coin, unlocked the mechanism, allowing the listener to turn a crank which simultaneously wound the spring motor and placed the reproducer's stylus in the starting groove. Frequently exhibitors would equip many of these machines with listening tubes (acoustic headphones) and array them in "phonograph parlors" allowing the patron to select between multiple records, each played on its own machine. Some machines even contained carousels and other mechanisms for playing multiple records. Most machines were capable of holding only one musical selection, the automation coming from the ability to play that one selection at will. In 1918 Hobart C. Niblack patented an apparatus that automatically changed records, leading to one of the first selective jukeboxes being introduced in 1927 by the Automated Musical Instrument Company, later known as AMI. In 1928, Justus P. Seeburg, who was manufacturing player pianos, combined an electrostatic loudspeaker with a record player that was coin operated, and gave the listener a choice of eight records.^[4] This Audiophone machine was wide and bulky, and had eight separate turntables mounted on a rotating Ferris wheel-like device, allowing patrons to select from eight different records. Later versions of the jukebox included Seeburg's Selectophone, with 10 turntables mounted vertically on a spindle. By maneuvering the tone arm up and down, the customer could select from 10 different records.^[3]

Greater levels of automation were gradually introduced. As electrical recording and amplification improved there was increased demand for coin-operated phonographs.

The term "jukebox" came into use in the United States around 1940, apparently derived from the familiar usage "juke joint", derived from the Gullah word "juke" or "joog" meaning disorderly, rowdy, or wicked.^[5]

Song-popularity counters told the owner of the machine the number of times each record was played (A and B side were generally not distinguished), with the result that popular records remained, while lesser-played songs could be replaced.

Wallboxes were an important, and profitable, part of any jukebox installation. Serving as a remote control, they enabled patrons to select tunes from their table or booth. One example is the Seeburg 3W1, introduced in 1949 as companion to the 100-selection Model M100A jukebox. Stereo sound became popular in the early 1960s, and wallboxes of the era were designed with built-in speakers to provide patrons a sample of this latest technology.

Initially playing music recorded on wax cylinders, the shellac 78 rpm record dominated jukeboxes in the early part of the 20th century. The Seeburg Corporation introduced an all 45 rpm vinyl record jukebox in 1950 leading to the 45 rpm record becoming the dominant jukebox media for the last half of the 20th century. 33⅓-R.P.M., C.D.s, and videos on DVDs were all introduced and used in the last decades of the century. MP3 downloads, and internet-connected virtually unlimited playlists came in the new, 21st century. The jukebox's history has followed the wave of technological improvements in music reproduction and distribution.

Jukeboxes were most popular from the 1940s through the mid-1960s, particularly during the 1950s. By the middle of the 1940s, three-quarters of the records produced in America went into jukeboxes.^[6] While often associated with early rock and roll music, their popularity extends back much further, including classical music, opera and the swing music era. In 1977, The Kinks recorded a song called "Jukebox Music" for their album Sleepwalker.

Styling progressed from the plain wooden boxes in the early thirties to beautiful light shows with marbelized plastic and color animation in the Wurlitzer 850 Peacock of 1941. But after the United States entered the war, metal and plastic were needed for the war effort. Jukeboxes were considered "nonessential", and none were produced until 1946. The 1942 Wurlitzer 950 featured wooden coin chutes to save on metal. At the end of the war, in 1946, jukebox production resumed and several "new" companies joined the fray.

Reproduction Wurlitzer 1015 in the Hotel Nacional de Cuba, Havana

Models designed and produced in the late 20th century needed more panel space for the increased number of record titles they needed to present for selection, reducing the space available for decoration, leading to less ornate styling in favor of functionality and less maintenance.

Many manufacturers produced jukeboxes, including 1890s Wurlitzer, 1920s Seeburg, 1930s "Rock-Ola" whose name is actually based on that of the company founder, David Cullen Rockola, and Crosley.

Seeburg Wall-o-Matic tableside extension, at Triple XXX, Issaquah, Washington, 2009.

Notable models

1946 Wurlitzer Model 1015 - referred to as the "1015 bubbler" offered 24 selections. More than 56,000 were sold in less than 2 years and it is considered a pop culture icon. Designed by Wurlitzer's Paul Fuller.^[3]
1953 Seeburg M100C - This was the jukebox exterior used in the credit sequences for the sitcom Happy Days. It played up to fifty 45 rpm records making it a 100-play. It was a very colorful jukebox with chrome glass tubes on the front, mirrors in the display, and rotating animation in the pilasters.^{[citation needed]}
1967 Rock-Ola 434 Concerto - This was the jukebox interior used in the intro sequence for the sitcom Happy Days. Like the Seeburg M100C, it played up to fifty 45 rpm records, but featured a horizontal playback mechanism unlike the M100C.^{[citation needed]}
Gables Kuro - 4 or 5 are known to exist and are valued at US$125,000^{[citation needed]}
Rock-Ola President - only one known to exist and valued at at least US$150,000^{[citation needed]}
Rock-Ola Premier - 15 known to exist and valued at US$20,000^{[citation needed]}
Wurlitzer 950 - 75-90 known to exist and valued at US$35,000^{[citation needed]}
1927 LINK - valued at US$40,000 and extremely rare^{[citation needed]}

Demise

Jukeboxes once received the newest songs first. They played music on demand without commercials. They offered a means to control the music listened to beyond what was available through the technology of their heyday.^[3]

Jukeboxes seem to have been superseded by personal digital audio players, and the easy and free access to music on demand. There is less incentive to pay a jukebox to reproduce music.

While jukeboxes maintain popularity in bars they have fallen out of favor with what were once their more lucrative locations—restaurants, diners, military barracks, video arcades and laundromats.

References

^ SF Weekly - story on Louis Glass, Dec. 1, 1999
^ Great Geek Manual - Glass/Arnold patents
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Weiss, Brett. Rock on with vintage jukeboxes. Antique Week. 2010-10-28. URL:http://www.antiqueweek.com/Article.asp?newsid=1796. Accessed: 2010-10-28. (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/5tp7pXdAm)
^ Carlisle, Rodney (2004). Scientific American Inventions and Discoveries, p.357. John Wiley & Songs, Inc., New Jersey. ISBN 0-471-24410-4.
^ "Juke house". Dictionary.com. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/juke+house?jss=0.
^ Cowen, Tyler (2000). In praise of commercial culture. Harvard University Press. pp. 164, 166. ISBN 0674001885.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jukeboxes

TA electronics Croatia Croatian-made modern jukebox machines.
BAL-AMI Jukeboxes Home of the British-made BAL-AMI Jukeboxes
Seeburg, Ami, Rockola, and Wurlitzer information and photos on most models
Jukebox France Jukebox France
Jukeboxes on location: photos, postcards, pictures - yesterday and today
Noncommercial Site with survey of Jukebox Mechanics, Companies and Aesthetics
JukeBoxes from the 1950s 1950s Jukebox

v d e Grooved track audio

Machines	Phonograph/gramophone · Direct-drive turntable · Belt-drive turntable · Jukebox · Seeburg 1000

Formats	Phonograph cylinder · Gramophone record

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Translations:

Jukebox

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - jukeboks, spillemaskine, musikmaskine

Nederlands (Dutch)
jukebox (automaat die tegen betaling muziek afspeelt)

Français (French)
n. - juke-box

Deutsch (German)
n. - Jukebox, Musikbox

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - τζούκμποξ, κερματοδόχο ηλεκτρόφωνο

Italiano (Italian)
juke-box

Português (Portuguese)
n. - juke-box (f), vitrola automática que funciona após a inserção de uma moeda

Русский (Russian)
музыкальный автомат

Español (Spanish)
n. - máquina de discos, tocadiscos

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - jukebox

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
自动唱片点唱机

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 自動唱片點唱機

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 자동 전축

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - ジュークボックス

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) جهاز الي محتو على اغان مسجله‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮מקול אוטומטי, אוטומט-תקליטים‬

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		American Heritage Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more
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		Houghton Mifflin Word Origins. America in So Many Words, by David K.Barnhart and Allan A. Metcalf. Copyright © 1997 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more
		Oxford Grove Music Encyclopedia. The Concise Grove Dictionary of Music. Copyright © 1994 by Oxford University Press, Inc.. All rights reserved. Read more
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		Random House Word Menu. © 2010 Write Brothers Inc. Word Menu is a registered trademark of the Estate of Stephen Glazier. Write Brothers Inc. All rights reserved. Read more
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		Wikipedia on Answers.com. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Jukebox. Read more
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