Yesterday in History
November 23, 1889: S.F. Gin Joint Hears the World’s First Jukebox
The first jukebox is installed at the Palais Royale Saloon in San Francisco. It became an overnight sensation, and its popularity spread around the world.
That first jukebox was constructed by the Pacific Phonograph Company. Four stethoscope-like tubes were attached to an Edison Class M electric phonograph fitted inside an oak cabinet. The tubes operated individually, each activated by the insertion of a coin, allowing four different listeners to plug into the same song simultaneously.
Towels were supplied to patrons so they could wipe off the end of the tube after each listening.
This is only important to me because my grandparents owned a bar and had a Seeburg M100 jukebox there. The bar was a neighborhood, somewhat redneck place. I spent a great deal of time there and saw some things in my preteen and teen years that most people never see in a lifetime. Ever see a guy get stabbed? Weird times, but somehow valuable later in life.
The jukebox held 50 records, playing 100 songs, mostly country, some polka, and a few rock. One song for a dime, three for a quarter. It played almost continually, but less than the pool table. I have a pool table story too.
When a guy named Al would come to change the records and take out the money, after a split of the skim, he would sell records to my mom for a quarter a piece. We had the largest collection of 45 rpm records in the area.
When you look at it, you recognize it as the one at Arnold’s Drive-In on Happy Days and the famous “Fonzie Bang,” his ability to start or stop the jukebox with a single punch.
When my grandparents finally retired it in the mid-60s, they gave it to my family. It was in our basement for years, with the lock on the coinbox removed, so it could be played anytime with the same quarter. The speaker was blown out, but a new one magically appeared from the local drive-in theatre. A gift from Bad Santa I reckon. It worked.
From there, it went to southern Ohio with me, but I used it to pay a great guy, whose wife worked for me, to clean out my basement. There was a lot to clean out, three or truckloads of junk, and it was quite a deal. Refurbished, and it is, it’s worth $8-10,000, and if not, it can still bring a couple grand. Not one of the best deals I ever made. But at least it was being used again.
Life is about memories of the past and the new ones we make.
