the.com/jukebox
a coin-operated dictator that lets one drunk stranger control everyone's evening
means a coin-operated machine that plays a song you select from its library of records or tracks.
from The 'juke' comes from 'juke joint,' an African American term for a roadhouse or dance hall, traced to the Gullah word 'juke' (also spelled 'joog') meaning disorderly, rowdy, or wicked — itself likely rooted in a West African language, possibly Wolof 'dzug,' to misbehave. Add the plain English 'box' for the machine, and you get a name that literally means 'rowdy-house box.' The word surfaced in American English in the 1930s as these record-playing machines spread through the very joints that gave them their name.
- name origin
- juke meant disorderly or wicked in Gullah slang
- peak era
- three-quarters of US records sold went to them
- wallbox trick
- diner table units let you pick songs remotely
- digital reign
- app-connected models now eat your phone payments
- hidden tax
- some let payers skip the entire queue
seeburg 100 select-o-matic — iconic 1950s jukebox that could play 100 records, found in diners across america
wurlitzer model 1015 — the most famous jukebox ever made (1946), with chrome art deco design, still sought by collectors
rock-ola 1422 — 1940s dual-sided jukebox that could play 24 songs, popular in bars and dance halls