By Brett Weiss Like the ’57 Chevy, the Velvet Elvis, and the electric guitar, the jukebox was, and is, a distinctive part of Americana. Romanticized on such TV shows as Happy Days and in such songs as Alabama’s Jukebox In My Mind, jukeboxes are usually found in diners, dance halls, and other public places. However, as with arcade games and pinball machines, more and more of them are finding their way into private homes. John Papa of the National Jukebox Exchange (www.nationaljukebox.com) played his first jukebox in 1968 (the song was Gary Puckett and the Union Gap’s Young Girl), but he didn’t start collecting them until 1981. "I saw a restored Wurlitzer 1015 while on a business call," Papa said, "and the idea of owning a vintage jukebox really appealed to me." Papa likes that jukeboxes are functional collectibles - they play records, of course - but his affection for coin-operated music machines goes much deeper than simple sounds. "They are multifaceted and mechanically and electrically interesting," Papa said. "They are ’art’ in a way, and they are a valuable and potentially good investment. Even when they don’t work, they make for a nice night light." Indeed, Papa finds that vintage jukeboxes on the open market are often damaged, unplayable, or otherwise in need of repair. "The biggest challenge for most people is keeping them running," Papa said. "All the experienced mechanics are either dying or retiring. It’s not a problem for me because I have a shop full of experienced people, but these machines break down, and the technology is a lot different than today." Unlike most jukebox collectors, who make do with a few select machines, Papa has no such limitations. "Since antique jukeboxes are my business, I have owned them all, and I go through stages," Papa said. "Currently I’m on a ’40s Wurlitzer kick, but they must have original finish. Right now I own every one of them, but it changes all the time. I feel myself going into a Rock-Ola mood soon." Although he can’t imagine life without his beloved jukes, Papa admits his hobby/occupation/obsession is almost an illness. "I have a bit of OCD, as I believe all collectors do, so there is very little reason or sense to collecting these things. It just scratches an itch that changes all the time." Despite the nature of his collecting habits, Papa can zero in on a favorite jukebox: the Wurlitzer 950. "It is super rare and very, very elaborate," Papa said. "It was made during World War II, so different materials were used because some material was scarce because of the war effort. Plus, it was designed by Paul Fuller, who was the da Vinci of jukebox design, and this was his Mona Lisa." According to Papa, the rarest, most expensive jukeboxes in his collection are as follows: • Gables Kuro ($125,000, four or five known to exist) • Rock-Ola President ($150,000?, only one known to exist) • Rock-Ola Premier ($20,000, 15 or so known to exist) • Wurlitzer 950 ($35,000, 75-90 known to exist) • 1927 LINK ($40,000, very rare) Day in and day out, Papa surrounds himself with jukeboxes, but he’s rarely tempted to play machines he finds outside of home or work. "Jukeboxes are my life," Papa said. "I have seen, repaired, and restored them all. When I see one in a bar, I’m usually critical of the condition and don’t pay much attention. And besides, when I leave my shop, I’m usually trying to get away from jukeboxes." Susan Hauf, who graduated high school in 1969, doesn’t collect jukeboxes, but she, like many other baby boomers, has fond memories of listening to them in malt shops, hamburger joints, and other locales. "I listened to jukeboxes a lot when I was in junior high and high school," Hauf said. "That was the norm in those days. My favorite jukebox song was Tommy James and the Shondells’ Mony Mony. We would sit in the corner diner after school and play that song over and over again. It was really cool because each table had its own little box right on the table. I bet there wasn’t a grownup in the place that didn’t have to be there." Explaining why jukeboxes were her preferred medium for listening to music, Hauf said: "Jukeboxes were great because they got the newest songs, and we could listen to whatever we wanted to hear without commercials and without talking between songs. Transistor radios were really cool, but we could control the jukebox. I guess you could say they were kind of like our version of the MP3 player!" Joan Weiss, who grew up in McCaskill, Ark., which had a population of around 200, remembers hanging out at Rube’s Café in nearby Blevins, a one-stoplight town that was only about twice as big as McCaskill. Like so many eateries of the era, Rube’s had a jukebox. "It was the mid-to-late 1950s, when rock ’n’ roll was the new thing," Weiss said. "We would go to Rube’s, put our coins in the jukebox, listen to the music, and dance. We called it ’bebop’ dancing. You didn’t really touch each other. You just bebopped. Fats Domino, Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis - all that rock ’n’ roll - I loved it." With the proliferation of rock ’n’ roll, jukeboxes did indeed experience their heyday during the 1950s, but the pre-history of the jukebox can be traced back to the late 1800s, with the advent of the coin-operated music box and player piano. 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 record player lacked amplification, but users could listen to the music via one of four listening tubes. In 1918, Hobart C. Niblack invented a device that would automatically change records. In 1927, The Automatic Music Instrument Company released the first electrically amplified multi-selection phonograph. The following year saw the advent of the audiophone, a coin-operated machine that played 78-rpm shellac records. Wide and bulky, the audiophone had eight turntables mounted on a rotating Ferris wheel-like device, meaning patrons could select from eight records. Various coin-operated music machines followed, including the Seeburg Corporation’s Selectophone, a 10-selection phonograph in which 10 turntables were stacked vertically on a spindle. By maneuvering the tone arm up and down, the customer could select from 10 different records. These and other inventions lead to the popular, frequently seen jukebox that exclusively played 45-rpm vinyl records, a design Seeburg introduced in 1950. The most popular jukebox of all time is a 24-selection machine called the Wurlitzer Model 1015. Referred to by many dealers and collectors as the "1015-bubbler," this pop culture icon has been featured prominently over the years in advertising and merchandising (mugs, T-shirts, bumper stickers, album covers, and the like), and in background shots of various films and television shows. The original Wurlitzer 1015 debuted in 1946 when building materials were once again plentiful. More than 56,000 1015-bubblers were sold in less than two years. In 1986, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the 1015, Wurlitzer re-released their famous jukebox, enhanced with updated technology, such as the ability to play compact discs (the original played 78-rpm records and, with the help of conversion kits introduced by Wurlitzer in 1954, 45-rpm records). Designed by Paul Fuller, the Wurlitzer 1015 is a beautiful piece that can add style, atmosphere, and a dash of panache to even the gloomiest of game or living rooms. Vintage Vending (www.vintagevending.com), which is an information blog about classic American memorabilia, describes the appearance of the 1015 thusly: |