Page 37 - REVIVAL Magazine

FLASH FORWARD: 1968
“Music to Millions”
Wurlitzer, founded in Cincinnati
in 1853, was the latest brainchild of
German-born inventor Franz Rudolph Wurlitzer (1831–1914) from Schöneck,
Saxony. It was directed successively by his sons Howard, Rudolph, and Farny.
Jukeboxes were most popular from the 1940s through the mid-1960s, particularly during the
1950s. By year’s end, 1945, three-quarters of the records produced in America had begun a new life inside of a jukebox. True, the musical marvel is often associated with early rock and roll music, yet it’s huge popularity goes back much, much further. Well-known classical music, opera and the swing music era all had their roots in the jukebox.
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 some plastics were needed for the war effort. Jukes were considered “nonessential”, and none
were produced until 1946. The 1942 Wurlitzer 950 featured a wooden coin chute to save on metal cost.
The ‘68 Wurlitzer Americana II Model was
the last Wurlitzer to use the carousel mechanism.
Models designed and produced in the late 20th century needed more panel space for the increased RPM’s and the number of record titles they needed to present for selection.
credit:
wikipedia.org
“99% of the world’s
lovers are not with their rst choice. That’s what makes the jukebox play.”
- Willie Nelson
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