But after the United States entered the war, metal and plastic were needed for the war effort. Styling progressed from the plain wooden boxes in the early thirties to beautiful light shows with marbleized plastic and color animation in the Wurlitzer 850 Peacock of 1941. The word "jukebox" came into use in the United States beginning in 1940, apparently derived from the familiar usage " juke joint", derived from the Gullah word "juke" or "joog", meaning disorderly, rowdy, or wicked. As electrical recording and amplification improved there was increased demand for coin-operated phonographs. Greater levels of automation were gradually introduced. Many manufacturers produced jukeboxes, including: 1890s Wurlitzer, late 1920s Seeburg, 1930s " Rock-Ola" (whose name is actually based on that of the company founder, David Cullen Rockola), Sound Leisure, and Crosley. By maneuvering the tone arm up and down, the customer could select from 10 different records. Later versions of the jukebox included Seeburg's Selectophone with 10 turntables mounted vertically on a spindle. This 'Audiophone' machine was wide and bulky because it had eight separate turntables mounted on a rotating Ferris wheel-like device, allowing patrons to select from eight different records. Seeburg, who was manufacturing player pianos, combined an electrostatic loudspeaker with a record player that was coin-operated. 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 Entertainment Network. Most machines were capable of holding only one musical selection, the automation coming from the ability to play that one selection at will. Some machines even contained carousels and other mechanisms for playing multiple records. Įarly designs, upon receiving a coin, unlocked the mechanism, allowing the listener to turn a crank that simultaneously wound the spring motor and placed the reproducer's stylus in the starting groove.įrequently, exhibitors would equip many of these machines with listening tubes (acoustic headphones) and array several of these machines in "phonograph parlors", allowing the patron to select between multiple records, each played on its own machine. The music was heard via one of four listening tubes. This was an Edison Class M Electric Phonograph retrofitted with a device patented under the name of 'Coin Actuated Attachment for Phonograph'. Arnold invented the nickel-in-the-slot phonograph, in San Francisco. In the 1890s, these devices were joined by machines which used recordings instead of actual physical instruments. These devices used paper rolls, metal disks, or metal cylinders to play a musical selection on an actual instrument, or on several actual instruments, enclosed within the device. Coin-operated music boxes and player pianos were the first forms of automated coin-operated musical devices.