Wurlitzer jukebox

From RetroTech, the online museum of 20th century technology.

The Wurlitzer Colonial jukebox (1947) in the museum is now working! Come hear the authentic sound of the '50s or see it in action in the short video below.


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Background

In 1933, a jukebox mechanism patent was bought by Farny Wurlitzer. From this patent, his imaginative inventors developed the first Wurlitzer jukebox, the "Debutante." By the late 1930s, Wurlitzer was producing over 45,000 jukeboxes per year.

In the late 1930’s and throughout the 1940’s, the styling of Wurlitzer Jukeboxes was taken to a new level by a gifted designer named Paul Fuller. In the 40’s, the sophisticated and artistic use of plastics, glass, and wood made these machines instant classics. Paul Fuller received a patent for his design of this Model 1080 jukebox, dubbed the "Colonial." This model is much less common than the Wurlitzer "Bubbler" (Model 1015) made at the same time, and "was often found in fine restaurants and swanky nightclubs rather than soda fountains."[1]

In this era of iPods that store literally thousands of songs, it is almost hard to imagine that 50 years ago, this enormous, expensive contraption was the iPod of its era. This jukebox stored only 24 records, each one a 78 rpm disk that played one song about three minutes long, at what we would today consider astonishingly low fidelity.

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About this jukebox

The jukebox at the museum was originally used at the roadside business of V. F. Havemann in rural Fayette County, Texas. (See map.) The records in the jukebox when it was last updated indicate that the most recent changes were made in 1956. The songs playing in the jukebox are:

  1. Take Possession - Jean Shepard with Bill Woods' Orchestra - Capitol
  2. Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White - Pérez Prado - RCA Victor (Cash Box Top 50, March-October 1955)
  3. The Doggie in the Window - Patti Page - Mercury (Cash Box Top 50, January-July 1953)
  4. (I Wanna Go Where You Go) Then I’ll Be Happy - Jimmy Heap with Perk Williams - Capitol
  5. Restless Heart - Slim Whitman - Imperial
  6. Seven Lonely Days - Georgia Gibbs - Deluxe (Cash Box Top 50, March-August 1953)
  7. Makin' Believe - Kitty Wells - Decca
  8. Take These Chains From My Heart - Hank Williams - MGM
  9. Just Wait 'Til I Get You Alone - Carl Smith - Columbia
  10. Jersey Bound - Del Wood & Band - Republic
  11. Too Fat Polka - Dick "Two Ton" Baker & His Music Makers - Mercury
  12. The Red Rose - Slim Willet & His Hired Hands - Four Star
  13. Jenny Polka - "Whoopee" John Wilfahrt - Decca
  14. $20 Bill Polka - Rudy Kurtz Orchestra with Charles Vana - Martin
  15. Tanta Anna Polka - Fezz Fritsche - Soma
  16. Rosalinda Waltz - Jerry Dostal - Soma
  17. Woodland Polka - Jerry Dostal - Soma
  18. Just Another Polka - Guy Lombardo - Decca
  19. The Poor People of Paris - Les Baxter & Chorus - Capitol (Cash Box Top 50, February-June 1956)
  20. Ivory Tower - Otis Williams & His Charms - De Luxe (Cash Box Top 50, March-August 1956)
  21. That's The Way It Goes With Love - Blue Barron & His Orchestra - MGM
  22. Sugarfoot Rag - Red Foley with guitar by Sugarfoot Garland - Decca
  23. Goin' Home - Harry James & His Orchestra - Columbia
  24. Josephine - Wayne King

Two songs in particular indicate the exact time period from which this jukebox comes to us as a time capsule of sorts. "Ivory Tower" and "The Poor People of Paris" were consecutive Cash Box magazine #1 hits in 1956, "Ivory Tower" on March 10 and 17, and "The Poor People of Paris" from March 24 to April 14. The next week, April 21, the top hit on the Cash Box list was this first nationwide #1 hit of Elvis Presley, "Heartbreak Hotel." [2]

Nine of the songs playing on the jukebox now do not match the song listings on the front. The nine songs listed on the front but not on the list above are:

  • My Jealous Eyes - Patti Page
  • Song of the Old Water Wheel - Slim Whitman
  • Whose Shoulder Will You Cry On? - Kitty Wells
  • This Orchid Means Goodbye - Carl Smith
  • George & Joe - Joe Patek
  • Woodland Polka - Jerry Dostal
  • Lisbon Antigua - Nelson Riddle & Orchestra (Cash Box Top 50 December 1955-June 1956)
  • Schneider Polka - Lee Ilse’s Band
  • Bass Polka - Whoopee John Band

Several of these may be the flip sides of the songs currently playing.

If you are an iTunes user and would like to download and listen to eight of the songs on the jukebox, click here to see our playlist.

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